Personally, I have never gotten the hype by the names “baby,” “babe,” “bae,” “honey,” it feels forced to me. I’ve seen those TikTok videos where as a joke people will address their spouses by their real names and the spouses get mad and say something like “my family and friends can call me that, but you can’t.” I’ve never gotten the seriousness of it. If we already know we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, or husband and wife, why should I have to address you by those names? Again, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with saying them, but using real names should become more common as well.
Eh, for me typically petnames have been used in private, like at home, and actual names are used in public. Also, with my experiences, the pet names were usually more unique than “honey” or “babe” etc. It usually was generated from an inside joke or the like. Both endearing and slightly teasing.
Names like “Brandy” “Skit skit” “smidget” or “One step”