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A1.11 Romanian romantic love names

Here is a list of cute Romanian pet names for your partner, lover, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife...

As you might expect the precise literal translation of the words into English may not make that much sense, or might lead you to wonder what is so romantic about it. Just use it and do not think to much about what it actually means. As long as your partner likes it, that is the most important. We provide nevertheless the Romanian literal translation so that you have a reference point in English.

The below are the "most common" Romanian pet names. It happens quite often that one would make up a more original pet name for his/her loved one based on various themes: names of characters from cartoons, movies, animals, nature: e.g. bamby, leuț (little lion), floricică (little flower), filozoful (the philosopher)...

Further down in this lesson we have added the translations of three Romanian love songs.

Which are the most frequent Romanian love names?

English Romanian
translation
Audio Phonetic
Transcription
My darling (referring to a Romanian girl / woman)

Draga mea

/'dra.ga me̯a/
My darling (referring to a Romanian boy / man)

Dragul meu

/'dra.gul me̯w/
My love (it can be addressed to a man or a woman)

Dragostea mea

/'dra.gos.te̯a me̯a/
Romanians use one word to refer to a young animal or bird offspring: pui. It is the equivalent of the English noun young or cub. e.g. "pui de leu" translated from Romanian to English as "lion cub". Puișor is the diminutive form of "pui" thus denoting a little "cub" or "young" or "chick".

puișor

/pu.i'ʃor/
This is another way of saying puișor with the same meaning.

puiuț

/pu'jut͡s/
baby, sweetheart, lover,darling... It can only be addressed to a Romanian man.

iubițel

/ju'bi.t͡sel/

baby, sweetheart, lover, darling

iubi is the short form of iubțel or iubțică thus iubi can be addressed to both a Romanian man or to a Romanian woman.

iubi

/'ju.bi/
Iubirică is a synonym of iubi and iubițel thus translated as well as baby, sweetheart, lover... This word does not exist in the Romanian dictionary. It should be addressed mainly to a Romanian man and less to a woman.

iubiri

/'ju.bi'ri.kə/
There is no direct translation. scumpi comes from scump which is translated as "expensive", thus we could infer that "scumpi" could mean precious.

scumpi

/'skum.pi/

little mouth

guriță

/gu'ri.t͡sə/

"pisi" is a short form of "pisică" which is translated into English as cat

It can be addressed to a man or to a woman. It has a feminine nuance though.

pisi

/'pi.si/

little tomcat 

It can only be addressed to a man

motănel

/mo.tə'nel/

little male cat

Pisoiaș is coming from pisoi which is a synonym of motănel thus translated as "little male cat"

pisoiaș

/pi.so'jaʃ/

little angel

îngeraș

/ɨn.d͡ʒe'raʃ/

little soul

suflețel

/su.fle't͡sel/

little bear

ursuleț

/ur.su'let͡s/

little butterfly

fluturaș

/flu.tu'raʃ/

2 Listening
3 Translate

Classical terms of endearment

Romanians use as well the English love names such as honey, bunny, baby, babe, sweetie... thus feel free to choose the pet name that suits your situation best.

Romanian love songs

Which is the best or most famous Romanian love song? There are so many that we've only picked and chose a few ones for you to enjoy listening to. They are all translated into English.

DJ Project - Șoapte / Whispers

The following music video is one of the many Romanian love songs that we hope you'll be enjoying.The Romanian transcription and subtitles are provided on the screen. The intro is a bit long about 40 seconds, just be a bit patient to listen to the whole song.


Van Noizz - Pas cu Pas (Step by Step)

Another romantic Romanian song that is maybe less famous but equally inspiring is the one of Van Noizz - Pas cu Pas (Step by Step)

Here is the Romanian lyrics translation:

Romanian English
E-adevarat ca mi-am dorit It's true that I wanted
Sa te cunosc cu adevarat To truly get to know you
E-adevarat ce te urmaream It's true that I've been following you
Neincetat. Relentlessly.
Pas cu pas Step by step
Te voi urma I'll be following you
Te voi urma I'll be following you
E-adevarat si-atunci cand adormeam It's true, and when I was falling asleep
Tot pe tine te visam. I was dreaming of you
Nu ma intreba cum s-a intamplat Don't ask me how it happened
E-adevarat ca m-am schimbat. It's true that I've changed
Pas cu pas Step by step
Te voi urma I'll be following you
Te voi urma I'll be following you

Nicu Alifantis - Dacă tu ai dispărea (If you would disappear)

Nicu Alifantis is one of the classical Romanian song writers and singers, while listening to his music you can feel the pure authentic music, without any fancy special effects. His lyrics are deep and meaningful, a challenge for any translator :).

Here is the Romanian lyrics translation:

Romanian English
Dacă tu ai dispărea If you would disappear
Într-o noapte oarecare One ordinary night
Dulcea mea, amara mea My sweet one, my bitter one
Aş pleca nebun pe mare. I'd sail away on the sea, crazy
Cu un sac întreg de lut With a sack full of clay
Şi-o spinare de nuiele And a back-full of twigs
Să te fac de la-nceput To make you from scratch
Cu puterea mâinii mele. With the force of my hand
Lucru lung şi monoton A long and monotonous labor
Să te înviez femeie To resurrect you woman
Eu, bolnav Pigmalion I, the sick Pygmalion
Hai, şi umblă Galatee. Come and walk (you) Galatea.
Dacă tu ai dispărea If you would disappear
Fi-ţi-ar moartea numai viaţă May your death be all life
Dulcea mea, amara mea My sweet one, my bitter one
Aş pleca în ţări de gheaţă. I'd leave to frosty countries
Să te fac din ţurţuri reci To make you out of cold icicles
Să te-mbrac în promoroacă To dress you in hoarfrost
Şi-apoi să poţi să pleci And then to let you leave
Orişiunde o să-ţi placă. Wherever you would like to
De-ai cădea într-adevăr Should you truly fall
În momentul marii frângeri In the moment of the great breakup
Aş veni la tine-ncet I'd slowly come to you
Să te recompun din îngeri. To recompose you out of angels
Şi pe urmă voi pleca And then I'll leave
Umilit şi iluzoriu Humiliated and delusive
Unde este casa mea Where my house is
O mansardă-n purgatoriu An attic in the Purgatorio
Dacă tu ai dispărea If you would disappear
Şi din râsu-mi şi din plânsu-mi And from my laughter and from my crying
Te-aş găsi în sinea mea I'd find you within myself
Te-aş zidi din mine însumi I'd mason you from myself
Dacă tu If you
Dacă tu ai dispărea [Dacă tu] If you would disappear [If you]
Dacă tu ai dispărea If you would disappear
Dacă tu [dispărea] If you disappear
Ai dispărea [ai dispărea] You would disappear [would disappear]

If you happen to live in the UK I warmly recommend Ann Victoria's pet photography services.

41 comments

Greg

Hi,
Great article. How do you say "chick" in Romanian?
I've just met a hot Romanian sexy cool attractive girl and I want to tell her "I want you to be my chick".

English Romanian translation: Chick

Interesting question :)

"Chick" is translated into Romanian as "gagică".

The translation of your sentence above is:
“Vreau să fii gagica mea”

It sounds quite direct as a statement, you might want to ask:
“Vrei să fii gagica mea?” which means „Do you want to be my chick?”

I hope it goes well with your Romanian chick

English Romanian translation: Chick

Chick = puişor. Gagica is rude unless you know the person very well and are very good friends.

"Chick" in Romanian, pet name or slang?

Hi Sim,
Thank you for your comment.

To my understanding in English "Chick" is not really flattering it's still a sort of slang... hence the translation with "gagică" which is as you rightfully pointed out a bit derogatory and can be even considered rude by someone.

I was hesitating between "gagică" and "tipă", but "tipă" is a bit more neutral, it does not express that fact that this girl/woman is attractive.
I would certainly not translate "chick" by "puișor". Chick is a bit pejorative, while "puișor" is definitely a pet name expressing a lot of affection and care. "puișor", as explained above in the lesson, means young animal or bird offspring.

Happy to help

English Romanian translation: Chick

Chick = puişor. Gagica is rude unless you know the person very well and are very good friends.

chick

to say “i want you to be my check” you can say “vreau sa-mi fii gagica”

Mersi Ioana,

Mersi Ioana,

You are right, one can say "vreau să fii gagica mea" which is translated "I want you to be my chick". Both in Romanian and in English this is quite direct and a bit pejorative, thus the translation matches well.

Need brushing up.

Bună ziua! I wanted to know if there was an alternate or, for lack of a better word, graceful way of calling someone by the nickname "little pup" or specifically "wolf pup". I know mic pup, but that seems too literal.

Puilor? My Romanian is rusty, but I'm going back home and confessing to The One. Thanks in advance! Great site for helping me learn my mother language!

Romantic love names: little pup, little wolf

Hi Rorik,

I have some friends that live abroad that are facing a similar issue with yours. Once your not anymore in your native language environment, you tend to replace it with another language. You need to train/practice regularly a language, otherwise you will forget it.

For your question, and assuming that you want to address it to a lady (it makes a difference in the wording):
"little pup" in Romanian is "cățelușă" (for a female)

and "little wolf" - it's a bit more complicated :) since it exists in Romanian only for a male wolf and it is translated as :"lupușor".
Now since this love names are a bit made up (derived from normal words), you could easily call your loved lady: "lupușoară". This word does not exist in Romanian dictionary, but it sounds good. Instead "lupoaică" exists in Romanian and it is the translation for female wolf. As you can imagine it implies ferocity...

"Puilor" is plural and it is used to address somebody directly (Vocativ). You cannot really use it as a love name. In the lesson above, you can find the more classical "puișor" and "puiuț" that might be what you are searching for.

All the best with your loved one!

Happy to help
If you have more questions just let me know

Little One, Little Love

Buna dimineata, I am fairly new to the romanian language, however I am known by my family to say pet names to my little siblings in foreign languages(native English speaker). I was wondering if you could teach me how to say 'Little one' or "Little Love" , as I may be gaining a little brother or sister soon, and i would like to give them their own nickname. As i have given all my younger siblings a name, for example my younger sister's name is 'Wachiwi', meaning 'dancing girl'.

Little one in Romanian

Hi,

"Little one" in Romanian can be translated as "mititica" for little girl or "mititel" for a little boy. It's a cute pet name.
I would not really use "Little love" in Romanian for a little baby, since most of the love pet names that are based on "love" (iubire) are mainly associated with a love for a partner rather than a little baby.
You could call him/her "suflețel" which means "little soul".

A common Romanian pet name for babies is "bebe" that comes from "bebeluș" (baby,infant).

I hope this answers your question

PLEASE translate the word PICUTZA???

I SAW THIS IN A POST BY A ROMANIAN GUY

Interpreting a Romanian pet name

Hi,

The precise word "picutza" does not exist in Romanian, and does not seem to resemble a normal derivation of a more known word.

I have never heard it, but since some the pet names are made up, or derived from normal words, I still spent quite some time trying to figure out what it could mean.
My conclusion is that it is a nickname without any significance/connotation.

In the word "picutza" a Romanian could have used the "tz" as a replacement for "ț" which produces more or less the same sound. I also searched for "picuța" and found out it's a rare last name..

In any case, what could help would be some more context. If you can share a few more words/sentences around it, this could help a lot in understanding what was meant.

Happy to help

what does the Romanian "hemeie" mean?

I saw hemeie in a march 8th tribute. what does it mean.?
thanks

8th of March, women's day in Romania

Hi Holly,

"hemeie" is not a Romanian word.
It's most likely that it was "femeie" which is translated in English as "woman"

"Women's day" is translated in Romanian as "Ziua femeii"

Happy to help!

Faino

Hi was wondering what the slang word faino means? Is it like darling? Thanks!

What does this Romanian word mean?

Hi,

Indeed, you cannot find faino in the Romanian dictionary.
"Fain" means "nice". "Faino" could be addressed to a woman/girl as the "o" ending is characteristic to feminine endings.

If you have a context/sentence I could guess better.

Happy to help!

Is there a romantic meaning

Is there a romantic meaning behind it or is it normal? So it was a guy messaging my girlfriend saying: ce fac faino?

Interpretation of a Romanian word

Hi,

I would say rather not, that there is no romantic meaning. I cannot really infer the romance from the question you posted above.
Two caveats though: word "faino" I have never heard before in a normal conversation. I understand it fully, but is very uncommon/seldom.
The grammar is not really right, the question should be "ce faci faino" not, "ce fac faino". "Ce fac faino?" means "What am I doing, you nice one?" The question does not really make sense, asked like that.

I would not infer any romance from this question.

I hope this answers your question.

Happy to help!

Interpretation of a Romanian word

Hi, I'm Romanian who was born in Serbia (Banat/Vojvodina region). I speak Romanian but it's not the correct dialect of the language. We have a lot of words that are influenced by the Serbian language. When I read "ce fac faino" I knew exactly what was meant, although, "fac" was not spelled correctly. The phrase "ce faci faino" is a very commonly used question expressed as endearing. It basically means, "what are you doing, beautiful?" The word faino is kind of slang for beautiful, pretty, lovely etc. If I say this phrase to my daughter, it's an endearing meaning. If a man says it to a woman, it's a flirtatious meaning. Hope this helps!

By the way, great website to learn Romanian. I will pass this on to my daughter's who understand a little Romanian but can't really speak it!

Interesting Romanian interpretation

Hi Otilija,

It's a very interesting interpretation. Actually a normal word/term in any language, including Romanian can be used as an endearment term if one attaches affection to it. Most of the endearment terms are normal words to which the speaker or receiver attaches a lot of affection.

I'm happy to learn that in Vojvodina a dialect of Romanian is still spoken. In mainland Romania we learn that in schools in the history books that in Vojevodina Romanian or a form of Romanian it is spoken, but to which extent is it still the case we do not know.

I'm really happy to learn that!

As well for the "Ce faci faino?" Indeed it has this meaning of "How are you beautiful?" thus you are right, depending on the speaker and the usage it can carry an affection/flirting message.

My kids already gave me some ideas with points to be awarded for learning new words, and that you can then with those points can "buy" some sort of clothes for your character. I've just managed to add progress percentage for each lesson. Hopefully one day I'll make it even more playful to learn Romanian.

Thank you for your kinds words about the website. It's by far perfect, but I love what I'm doing and I am happy to help others to learn Romanian for free.
Happy to help!

Question about relationship etiquette

Thank you for this article. Would these love names be appropriate in Romania for a man to say to a man's freind, who is a woman, but isn't his love partner?
My partner told me he had a sister, he often called her sormea and she calls him fratimiu.
I found out she was not his sister but was told she was his close friend. His messages to her often used the above term... Scumpa mea, draga mea, puisor etc and included te iubesc ingerasule...
I felt hurt that he was addressing her in this way as my view is that such endearing terms should be for a love partner. They both denied they were anything more than best freinds.
It would be helpful to have a romanian view. I don't want to be unfair but nor be made a fool of. I hope someone can offer some advice, thank you

Understanding the subtle intentions in a Romanian love message

Hi,

I think that in your case it is equally important to check their body language, and the tone of voice.
Strictly from a linguistic and Romanian culture point of view, it is not appropriate to call anyone else than your love partner "Te iubesc îngerașule".

"Scumpa mea", "Draga mea" show a form of affection for that person, and can be used both in love relations and in normal non-love relationships.
"Puișor" is rather love related. One cannot say to the friend of a friend "puișor".

As I was saying above, the tone matters, if it's ironic/funny/meant to mock the other person then the words do not convey a love message. But the "Te iubesc îngerașule" can be used only in a love relation, this is clear, one cannot say "Te iubesc îngerașule" and mean that it is funny/ironic. It means "I love you little angel".

Sorry for the bad news, I have provided my objective opinion, and I believe that this is what you needed.

Love names

I have a male Romanian friend who calls me Babu, what does it mean

Hi,

Hi,

I gave it a lot of thought and actually I can't find a real meaning. I found one remote meaning, but it is so remote that I would not mention it.
"Babu" is not a common pet name in Romanian. Sometimes people make-up their own pet names or it could be something that has a special meaning for him alone.

I know that this may not help you that much.

Prince/Princess

Just wanted to know the Romanian equivalent to calling one’s lover “my prince” or “my princess” just wanted to know as I’m writing a fictional story about Romanian nobility.

Hi,

Hi,

"My prince" is "prințul meu"
"My princess" is "prințesa mea"

Happy to help

Term of endearment for the half that makes me whole

Hello. I am learning Romanian, and having a bit of a time with a few different phrases. Could you translate the below in regards to me telling my boyfriend?
‘My baby bird’
‘You are the half that makes me whole’
‘Love you always’

Danke.

English Romanian translation

Hi,

Here are English Romanian love related terms translations:
‘My baby bird’ - "Puişorul meu" - Please check above in the lesson the pronunciation for "puişor"
‘You are the half that makes me whole’ - "Tu eşti jumătatea care mă întregeşte"
Love you always - "Te voi iubi mereu"

I'm happy to help and I wish you all the best in your relationship with a Romanian!

What does the romanian pet name bibi mean?

What does the romanian pet name bibi means? In what type of relationship is it used? Does it have the same meaning as in arabic or french (darling\chérie)?

Hi,

Hi,

I would say that Bibi is not really a Romanian love pet name. It is more a short form for Bianca, a Romanian forename. I understand that in French it is different. By the way, did you know that this website is also translated in French, https://www.learnro.com/fr
It took me some time to answer because I wanted to check to make sure that this is not only my understanding, or maybe the region that I come from.

Happy to help!

Mulțumesc!

Bună, sunt Gema, o argentiniană care învață Românește degeaba (sau nu atât de degeaba... limba aceasta îmi place foarte mult și vreau să călătoresc la România).
Vreau să vă spun vouă ce îmi place cum învățați Românește. Videouri și muzica sunt foarte utili! Am studiat Română pe șase luni și o prietenă m-a trimis "LearnRo" acum... sunt fericită!

Bună Gema,

Bună Gema,
Felicitări! Deja poți să construiești propoziții complicate. Dacă vrei pot să corectez ce ai scris mai sus.
Mă bucur că îți place site-ul.

Dacă ai vreo întrebare, exact cum ai facut acum, posteaz-o la comentarii și îți răspund cu plăcere.

Mult succes!

Răspund

Da, dacă vrei, poți să corecți! Mi-ar plăcea foarte mult, dar dacă ești ocupat/ă, nu trebuie să corecți. Multumesc! Eu învăț cu ajutor prietenei mea și cu cărți și app-uri la Internet, dar nu am un profesor. E mai greu să învăț așa. Dar fac un efort mare pentru că iubește Românește.

Romanian language corrections

Textul corect este:

Da, dacă vrei, poți să corecțezi! Mi-ar plăcea foarte mult, dar dacă ești ocupat/ă, nu trebuie să corecțezi. Multumesc! Eu învăț cu ajutorul prietenei mele și cu cărți și app-uri de pe internet, dar nu am un profesor. E mai greu să învăț așa. Dar fac un efort mare pentru că iubesc limba română.

Corecțiile sunt:

poți să corectezi
învăț cu ajutorul prietenei mele
app-uri de pe internet
iubesc limba română

Se spune
Eu vorbesc românește
dar nu poți să spui "Eu iubesc românește"
E un pic mai ciudat regula asta, există o explicație gramaticală dar care este mai complicată.

Succes!

Vre-o ?!?

Pai bine, nene, te dai cunoscator (si nu contest ca ai fi)... da' vii cu dude d-astea?

Mersi Sergiu,

Mersi Sergiu,
Ai dreptate am corectat, era greșit scris "vre-o".
Dacă mai găsești alte greșeșli le corectez cu plăcere.

O zi plăcută și Sărbători fericite!

Romanian text corrections

În primul rănd felicitări pentru că reușești să scrii cu diacritice ăîșț...

Ăsta e mesajul tău corectat, sunt foarte puține corecții pentru că textul tău era aproape corect. Corecțiile sunt la
să călătoresc în România
spun că îmi place
sunt utile
am studiat română șase luni
o prietenă mi-a trimis

Bună, sunt Gema, o argentiniană care învață Românește degeaba (sau nu atât de degeaba... limba aceasta îmi place foarte mult și vreau să călătoresc în România).
Vreau să vă spun vouă că îmi place cum învățați Românește. Videouri și muzică sunt foarte utile! Am studiat română șase luni și o prietenă mi-a trimis "LearnRo" acum... sunt fericită!

Bravo, mă bucur că vorbești așa de bine românește!

Mulțumesc pentru corecțiile!

Te mulțumesc foarte mult pentru că ai folosit timpul tău pentru să mă ajuți! Voi scrie corecțiile în hârtie.
O să trimit web-ul acest dacă după cunosc alți studenți de limbă română. Sunt foarte amabili!

"Little fire"

How would I call someone "little fire" endearingly? (Would translate to fiery?).

Romanian translation "little fire"

Hi,

The best translation is "foculeț" which means little fire in a nice and pleasant way.

Fiery would be translated in several ways:
"focos" for a man
"focoasă" for a woman.
"înflăcărat/înflăcărată" - means in flames.
"aprins/aprinsă" - means lit, bright, ignited

Among all of them "foculeț" has this endearing meaning, it means a little fire that I like.

Happy to help

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