30 Affectionate Spanish Terms of Endearment for Family, Friends, and Loved Ones

If you’re speaking to someone you love —a romantic partner, a friend, or a family member—, give them a sweet nickname to show them they’re special to you. Knowing some key Spanish terms of endearment is a great way of sparking some love into your conversation. 

Spanish terms of endearment vary a lot between dialects. And with the right tone, almost any word can be transformed into something affectionate and meaningful. It is not strange to hear native Spanish-speakers getting creative around terms of endearment, and using words like máquina (lit machine) or bestia (lit beast) in a playful manner. 

But here, we’ll stick to the basics: Here are the most most common Spanish terms of endearment for your loved ones. 

Spanish Terms of Endearment for Romantic Partners

Some couples have a language of their own. It’s a private language, where a seemingly unrelated word means something very different. They are not commonly used, but part of an intimate wordplay. Here are the most common Spanish nicknames you can use for your girlfriend or boyfriend.

Amor

Amor means “Love” in Spanish. In conversation, it can be used alone, or preceded by the possessive mi. Let’s see both cases:

Read next: Te Quiero vs Te Amo: What’s the Difference?

Cariño

In English, cariño is almost always translated as “honey”, “dear” or “sweetie”. In conversation, it looks like this:

Mi cielo

Mi cielo means “my sky”. It’s a very sweet way to refer to your loved one as it alludes that they are like heaven.

Mi vida

Mi vida has a very good English equivalent: “my life”. There is also another option, Vida mía, but that is a little melodramatic and isn’t used often in day-to-day life.

So remember: the best option is, almost always, Mi vida. Here’s an example:

Corazón

A list of cute Spanish nicknames wouldn’t be complete without corazón , which means “heart”. Like in some other cases, it can be presided over by the possessive: Mi corazón. 

Bebé

It will be difficult for Schitt’s Creek fans to NOT think of the melodramatic Moira Rose when they hear bebé, which means “baby” in Spanish. While Moira may be speaking about an actual baby, the bebé in this case, is used as a term of endearment in Spanish. Let’s take a look at the example below.

Mi rey / Mi reina

This pair is easy to translate: Mi rey means “my king”, and Mi reina means “my queen”. They are used in a very similar way.

Querido / Querida

In Spanish, some terms of endearment, change according to gender. That’s why we have Querido (masculine) and Querida (feminine). Both mean “dear” or “darling”. Here’s an example:

Gordo / Gorda

This can be strange for non-native Spanish speakers, but Gordo or Gorda —which means something like “fatty”— is in fact a term of endearment. And it has no relation with bodyweight: it’s just another way speaking to your partner affectionately! It works like this:

Mami / Papi

In some countries, like Puerto Rico, Mami (“mommy”) and Papi (“daddy”) are very common terms of endearment, and they’re used for romantic partners. This is not used in all Spanish-speaking countries so make sure to find out about this before trying it out otherwise you’ll get some strange looks!

Read next: 100 Must-Know Basic Spanish Words For Beginners (with Audio)

Spanish Terms of Endearment for Family

The family unit is so important in many Spanish-speaking countries. It’s no surprise that there are many little nicknames for different members of the family.

Viejo / Vieja

Viejo or Vieja —literally, “old man” or “old woman”— are mostly used when talking to your mother or father. In the English translation, it can sound a bit rude, but rest assured, it’s an affectionate and loving term.

Jefe / Jefa

Both Jefe and Jefa mean “boss” or “chief”. In some Spanish-speaking countries, these are used when speaking to the head of your family, the one that governs your home. It can be a mother, for example, but also a grandfather, and anything in between. 

Manito / Manita

Mano comes from Hermano, which means “brother”. Manito or Manita are cute ways of saying brother or sister; they are often used with friends, but also with your actual siblings.

Spanish Terms of Endearment for Children

In Spanish, there are a lot of terms for children, and most parents have a few of their own. There is also a great variation between dialects, and that means that different countries will use their own nicknames. Here are the most common ones.

Mi tesoro

Mi tesoro means “my treasure”.

Mi niño

Mi niño is easy to translate: it means “my child”. 

Mi ángel

Among all the loving ways of calling your children, mi ángel (“my angel”) is one of the most affectionate ones. 

Mijo / Mija

Mijo and Mija are contractions, the result of converting Mi hijo (“my child”)into a single word. They are very widespread terms, and in dialogue, they look like this: 

Nene / Nena 

Nene and Nena mean “little boy” and “little girl”, respectively. It is used most often in Argentina.

Chango / Changa

In South America, Chango means “child”… but in Mexico, it means “monkey”. So be careful!

Gurí / Gurisa

Gurí is a loan word from Guaraní, a South American language spoken in Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. It means, “child”. 

Negro / Negra

This may seem odd to non-native Spanish-speakers, but in the Río de la Plata, Negro and Negra are, in fact, terms of endearment. Although this term can be used with a lot of loved ones, it is mostly used with sons and daughters, frequently in the diminutive form and preceded by the possessive (Mi negrito). As in the case with gordo (a term of endearment for romantic partners), it has no relation with how the person actually looks. 

Gringo / Gringa

Most people will recognize gringo / gringa to mean a foreigner from an English-speaking country. In other cases, it just means “blond”. But in some specific countries, like Argentina, it is also used with children, specifically sons and daughters. And again: the child doesn’t have to be blond to be called Gringuito. 

Chaparrito / Chaparrita

Chaparrito means something like “shorty”, so you can imagine that is a very common way of referring to children. Here’s an example:

Spanish Terms of Endearment for Friends

Almost every Spanish dialect its own casual way of saying friend in Spanish. They can all be translated to “buddy”. Here are a few ways of referring to your friends in casually in a few different Spanish-speaking countries.

Cuate

Guey

Carnal

Paisa

Pana

Guapo

Tío

Using Diminutives to Make Nicknames

Diminutives are a fast way of making customized cute nicknames in Spanish. Diminutives are used to convey a smaller version of something or add additional affection to a word. You can make them by adding –ito to the end of words. That’s how Pájaro (“bird”) becomes Pajarito (“birdie”), which, let’s be honest, sounds far cuter.

You can use it with your favorite term of endearment to make it even more affectionate. Let’s see some examples:

• Amor (love) becomes amorcito
• Gordo (fatty) becomes gordito
• Ciel (sky) becomes cielito
• Viejo (old man) becomes viejito

You can also use diminutives to invent your own term of endearment. Get creative! 

Conclusion

You might just get a cavity now that you’ve learned so many sweet nicknames for your loved ones. Use them in a creative way, be playful with words, and have fun. Whether you’re speaking with a family member, a friend, or a romantic partner, you now have thirty different ways of being a lot more affectionate. Keep practicing and use this chance to make someone feel loved!