If your boyfriend has recently started to call you love then you’re probably wondering why and what it might mean.

This post will help you understand why he might be calling you love and why other guys might say it as well.

So, what does it mean when your boyfriend calls you love? Your boyfriend calling you love might mean that he thinks it’s a normal thing for a guy to call his girlfriend especially if his friends also say it. He might be from a culture where it is normal to call women love, he might have wanted to see your reaction or he might have said it because he was being condescending.

Since there are a number of reasons why your boyfriend might call you love, it is important to consider the context of how he says it and the body language that he shows.

Reasons why your boyfriend will call you love

Each of the different reasons why your boyfriend will call you love will likely come with a number of clues in his body language and behavior.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why your boyfriend will call you love and the body language and behavioral signs that you can expect to see with them.

He considers it normal for a boyfriend to call his girlfriend love

Love is a term of endearment that guys will often use when talking to their girlfriends. The reason that he calls you love could be that he considers it a normal way that a guy will refer to his girlfriend when talking to her.

If this is why he does it then it would be more likely that he has been your boyfriend for a while. It would also be likely that he would show positive body language signs around you and it would be possible that he has switched to calling you love from something such as “baby.”

He’s from a culture where it is normal to call women love

In some cultures, such as in the United Kingdom, it is normal to refer to the opposite sex as “love” even when they are not dating.

The reason that he tends to call you love could be that he is from one of these cultures and it is a normal thing for him to say. If this is the case then it would actually be likely that he would call other women love as well.

Even if he is from a culture where it is common for a man to call a woman love he still might call you love for a different reason so it would be helpful to consider the body language that he shows around you and when he says it.

He wants to see your reaction

The reason that he called you love could be that he wanted to see how you would react to it.

The reason that he wanted to see your reaction might be that he wanted to see if you would say something similar back to him.

If it is the case that he wanted to see if you would react positively then it would be likely that he would also have been asking you other questions about the status of the relationship.

He’s being defensive

The reason that he calls you love could be that he is being defensive and possibly that he is trying to hide something.

If that is the case then it would be likely that he would only call you love when talking about certain topics related to your relationship.

If he says it because he is hiding something then it would be likely that he would show some signs of anxiousness in his body language which could include:

  • Rubbing the face, arms, legs or neck
  • Scratching the neck
  • Hiding his palms
  • Coughing
  • Dry mouth
  • Speaking at a different pitch
  • Accusing you of things
  • Changing the subject

He’s being condescending

It might be the case that he called you love because he was being condescending.

If he was being condescending then it would be more likely that he would have said it with a sarcastic tone, when disagreeing with you or after you had just made a suggestion.

If he did call you love because he was being condescending then it would be likely that he would have shown other condescending signs in his body language which could include:

  • Pointing his chin upwards and looking down at you
  • Smirking at you when you’re making a suggestion
  • Not taking you seriously
  • Not including you in certain discussions

He’s comfortable in the relationship

The reason that he calls you love could be that he is comfortable in the relationship and that he says it to show that he loves you.

If that is the case then it would be likely that you would have been together for a while and that he would show numerous signs of attraction around you such as:

  • Mirroring your body language
  • Having dilated pupils around you
  • Holding prolonged eye contact with you
  • Touching you a lot
  • Pointing his feet at you
  • Touching your feet with his feet
  • Making plans based on yours
  • Uncrossing his arms and legs when he sees you

Consider how long you have been in a relationship together

When trying to figure out why he has been calling you love it would be helpful to consider how long you have been in a relationship together.

If he has been your boyfriend for a while now then it would be more likely that he said it because he is comfortable in the relationship with you and it would be a sign that he intends to keep the relationship going.

If he has been your boyfriend for a shorter time period then it would be more likely that he says it either because he considers it a normal thing to say to a girlfriend or because he wants to see how you would react.

Consider how he reacts to seeing you

When trying to understand the way that he feels about you and why he calls you love it would be helpful to consider the way that he reacts to seeing you.

If he reacts to seeing you by uncrossing his arms, sitting upright, making space for you, adjusting his hair or clothing, his pupils dilate, pointing his feet at you, raising his eyebrows and smiling and he holds eye contact with you then it would be more likely that he is happy with you and that he calls you love for a positive reason.

Whereas, if he reacts to seeing you by crossing his arms, squinting, avoiding eye contact with you, tightening his lips, tensing his jaw, pointing his feet away from you and only smiling at the mouth then it would be more likely that he is hiding something from you.

Think about a number of body language signs

When considering his body language when trying to understand why he calls you love it would be best to consider multiple aspects of his body language.

If he only shows once sign of something in his body language that he doesn’t normally then it would be likely that he could be showing that sign for many different reasons.

Whereas, if he shows multiple signs in his body language that all suggest the same thing then it would be likely that he is showing those signs for a specific reason.

Consider when he calls you love

The timing of when he calls you love would also be a useful thing to consider.

If he calls you love when you’re talking about certain topics related to the relationship then it could be a sign that he is hiding something if he doesn’t normally call you love and he shows body language signs of being anxious.

If you want to learn more about body language, a book I would recommend would be The Definitive Book of Body Language (on Amazon). It shows you how to interpret body language and understand people's true intentions.

Author

I created and currently manage Body Language Central, one of the premier sources for body language-related knowledge. Body language plays a key role in our daily lives. I hope that my website can help condense the wide amount of body language information available and allow you to make full use of it in your daily life. You can read more about me and my website here.