Pet names evolve.  Just like a blossoming love, they sometimes happen spontaneously. They arise from deeply held feelings and are fueled by passion, hormones, and familiarity. What we call our special someone comes from our hearts and is a testimony we often share with the world.

With that in mind, Crossword Solver curated their selection of the most popular used slang words for partners.  They used all the key cultural markers of gaming, crypto, hip hop, and the most-used Gen Z slang words and compared their usage rates on Twitter with the national average usage of the word.

Before I get to what they found out, let me say the pet word I have for my spouse was not considered for this survey. They ruled "baby" or "babe
and "honey" as too oversaturated. After a decade together, I guess we're lucky I'm not using something a little more, shall we say, "impolite."

Here is what Crossword Solver came up with overall

The most popular pet name in America overall, "Cutie"

The word "cutie" has been tracked by linguists to 1908.  It has been part of the vernacular in referring to that special someone for nearly 120 years.  Nine states have "cutie" as their favorite word for their special someone.  They are Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Utah.

The most popular pet name in Texas overall, "baby daddy"

"Baby Daddy," really?!?  That seems a little rude to me. We, men, would love to be considered for more than our DNA contributions. If true, would we men call our lady "baby mamma"?

Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
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Texas is not alone, "baby daddy" is also number one in Michigan, Tennesee, Georgia, and West Virginia.

Some other popular pet names include wifey, hubby, sweetie, baby girl, shorty, boo, bae, and sugar daddy.  Sugar daddy? Sugar daddy is number one in New York and Montana. I would have never thought New York and Montana would have anything in common.

I am glad I am not called "baby daddy." More power to those who think it's the perfect term for endearment. One good thing is that pet name would work, even if you're no longer together. Once a baby daddy, always a baby daddy. In fact, you could have many.
That's something I'm not even going to think about.

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