Language Help

Could use use some assitance Spanish Tumblr!  So I’ve been working on a piece that involves a dual lingual male mc. He speaks Spanish and English as it takes place in the states. I've been a bit lax in keeping up my studies of Spanish, but I do remember quite a bit--and one of my favorite terms was the word ‘Mariquita’ which I had been taught meant ‘ladybug’. 

I had planned on him nicknaming his love interest ‘Mariquita’ because a ladybug lands on her when they are trying to come up with her nickname--as it is tradition that everyone in their group of friends has one--and she dislikes the idea of being called ‘ladybug’ in english. However, I was reminded that translations across the globe are not always universal and that in some Spanish speaking countries the word ‘mariquita’ is a derogatory term toward gay men. I DO NOT WANT IT TO COME ACROSS THAT WAY (but I would still very much like Shane to call Ava by this name as a term of endearment.) So I tried to do a bit of research and I’m coming up a bit emptied handed other than the same piece of information repeated across different sites. So I shall turn to tumblr, does anyone know of any differences between countries that speak Spanish that ‘Mariquita’ might be a derogatory word rather than ‘ladybug’? Should I just pick another name all together? Would you have any suggestions on pet names or names of endearment?