When it comes to referring to their loved ones, Germans prefer to bestow the nice, but rather traditional, Schatz or “dear”, according to a survey of 4,000 Germans.

The poll conducted by the Munich-based PersonalRoman publisher showed that in terms of naming the most important people in their lives, the country of poets and philosophers tends to be, well, rather uninspired.

Across the board -- young and old, male and female alike -- Germans named “Schatz” as their number one choice of pet name. For the second and third most popular names, the publisher detected a penchant for cute animal monikers, but even here there was minimal individualism among those surveyed.

Love bunnies and mice

After dear and dearest, German men tend to call their loved ones Maus, or Mausi (mouse or mousey). The slightly more romantic gentlemen might also refer to their female partners as Engel (angel).

Women also prefer cutesy animal names for their men, bestowing them with endearing sobriquets such as Hase (bunny) or the even more charming -- and certainly anything but masculine – diminutive form Hasi (essentially little bunny). For those whose mannliness might be a bit more on the gruff side, women also reserve the term Bärchen (little bear).

But that isn’t to say that all Germans have the same sweet names whispered in their ears. The Munich publisher, which researches personal trends in contemporary Germany, found a handful of unusual epithets for the country’s dearest.

For the men: Sperminator, Bonsai-Adonis (no translation required here, although one wonders what the little tree refers to) and Nougatprinz (nougat prince – a kinder version of chubby hubby?).

A few of Germany’s lovely women might be called Krawallbiene (a fighting little bee – is that another way to say she’s annoying?) or Elfenpopöchen (little elf fanny – no further explanation required).

Given the original alternatives, plain old dear is probably preferable.