YET, my boyfriend of 6 plus years, insists on freaking calling me Princess any chance he gets. I tell him, “I am no princess, I am a tomboy. Princesses, dont do the things that I do.”
But he still calls me it. His reason?

Its because my name (Sarah) means Princess in hebrew. So I guess I understand why he calls me it. BUT it doesnt mean I like it. At all….

While it literally means Mom and Dad and yes that’s what you call your parents, it also means Honey or Sweetheart and can be used not only amongst couples but also for your children or even amongst friends or strangers. Think of it as how “Love” is used in the UK. Couples call each other “love” but also call their kids “love” and even strangers on the street are called “love”, such as if you bump into someone you could say “Sorry, love”. That’s exactly what Mami and Papi mean, except it is also used for your Mother and Father. Mami/Papi is the Hispanic version of “Love”.

I’m half Hispanic and half White/Caucasian and born and raised in South Florida. Often times I’m called “Mami” by female and male friends especially with Cuban heritage. My dentist who is a Cuban woman and very professional calls me “mami”.

Also a lot of parents call they’re kids mami or papi. Like a mom or dad will tell her/his daughter at the playground: “Mami, stop putting sand down your shirt!” This is the Spanish language for you – one word can have so many different uses.

The types of people who use the Mami/Papi (in the non-parental way) the most are Caribbean Latinos (Cubans / Puerto Ricans / Dominicans) and I think it’s due to African slave influences in their culture. Some Mexicans (which are technically North Americans) use mami/papi as well. But it’s more rarely used by Central American hispanics and South American hispanics (with the exception of Colombians who often use the term). In fact, Colombian actress Sofia Vergara (of ABC’S Modern Family) often calls her son, “Papi”. Cuban rapper Pitbull calls almost every female from his daughters to his friends to whatever hoochie he’s dating at the moment “Mami”.

So if your ex-boyfriend turned out to be a d-bag, it has nothing to do with him calling you “mami”. That’s just like saying sweetheart or honey. He was a d-bag because he was a d-bag but not because of some cultural pet name.