The baby name Bear is a trending nature name choice, now featured in a smash hit television series.
Thanks to Kate for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME BEAR MEAN?
Look in the dictionary, and you’ll find two very different definitions.
The first comes from the Old English beran – to bring forth. We beran arms, and we beran something in mind.
But most of the time, this word brings to mind a particular creature. In most languages, it relates to the word for brown, as in the fur color.
It’s a versatile word, and bears are surprisingly flexible symbols, too.
NAMES INSPIRED BY BEARS
Through the ages, bears have inspired names galore.
The Latin ursus and Greek arktos have inspired plenty of bear-adjacent names. It’s also possible that a Celtic root with the same meaning gave us Arthur.
Bernard, Orson, and Ursula all share the meaning.
More broadly, names like Theodore bring to mind bears. Credit to former president Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt who was both a big game hunter and a famous conservationist. A story about a hunting trip forever linked Teddy to the cuddly toy.
SYMBOLS AND MYTHOLOGY
From pandas to polar bears, various species are found all over the world.
We associate them with:
- Perhaps most famously, Russia
- Pastries said to resemble their claws
- A downturn in the stock market
- Rebirth, because of their habit of hibernation
If you’re big and gruff, you might acquire this as a nickname, too.
Constellations Ursa Major and Minor, come from Greek myth. The nymph Callisto resisted Zeus’s advances. Until she didn’t. A furious Hera (or sometimes Artemis) turned her into a bear as punishment, and Zeus placed her among the stars. Their son, Arcas, takes his name from the Greek word for bear.
We’ve hunted them for generations, but we’ve also trained them to dance. They appear in the Bible, and several saints tamed them.
From Goldilocks to more modern stories, lovable bears pack beloved children’s stories. There’s Paddington and Pooh, Yogi and Teddy Ruxpin, Kung Fu Panda and Baloo.
Smokey the Bear reminded us that we can prevent forest fires, beginning in 1950.
Speaking of Smokey, Bear is sometimes a substitute for police officer. One theory: because of the hats the two have in common.
All of this makes for a study in contrasts: the cuddly cub, the powerful predator. The name’s dual nature might be part of its appeal.
And yet none of this explains how the baby name Bear went from animal to appellation.
FAMOUS PEOPLE CALLED BEAR
Paul William Bryant picked up the nickname Bear when he agreed to wrestle one during a carnival. Young Bryant was all of thirteen years old at the time. He went on to become the University of Alabama’s head football coach for a quarter of a century, winning six national championships along the way.
The legendary coach was rarely referred to as Paul.
In 2006, Discovery Channel’s Man Versus Wild introduced us to Bear Grylls – birth name Edward Michael. The survival expert remains in the spotlight more than a decade later.
THE BEAR
In 2022, the world met Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto in The Bear, a psychology comedy-drama about a successful chef who returns home to Chicago to run his family’s struggling sandwich shop after a tragedy.
Bear is a family nickname – Berzatto sounds like Bear-zatto.
But it’s also richly layered. The story focuses on resilience and strength, succeeding despite hardship.
Jeremy Allen White won an Emmy for the role.
The Bear turned the baby name Bear into a potential modern virtue name.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME BEAR?
The name debuted on the Social Security lists back in 1975, with six boys. That’s after Bryant’s fourth national championship, but before his fifth.
Grylls made a bigger impact. No more than ten boys received the name in a single year until 2007, when two dozen boys were named Bear – one year after Man Versus Wild debuted. By 2008, that number doubled to 48. It continues to climb, with 186 newborn boys receiving the name in 2016.
As of 2023, 298 boys received the baby name Bear. It’s ranked in the US Top 1000 since 2018, and currently ranks #817 in the US.
Alicia Silverstone, Kate Winslet, Liam Payne, and Jamie Oliver have chosen the name for their children over the last few decades.
CUDDLY AND FIERCE
The baby name Bear feels cuddly and fierce. It’s a big name, but then, so are popular choices like Maverick. We love Leo and River and so many nature names, that Bear seems like a natural next generation possibility – especially with the emphasis on the name’s virtues thanks to the hit series.
What do you think of the baby name Bear?
First published on July 19, 2017, this post was revised on September 17, 2024.
I was always called “Clare Bear” growing up and have heard others called similar, including a “Sarah Bear”, so I like Bear as a nickname or a fun first name that would need a more serious middle.
I have considered a bear-related name such as Arthur for a son to honour my Dad who used my nickname most often. Ursula is still the villain from the Little Mermaid to me.
Just a heads up- Hera’s Roman name is Juno, while Artemis’s Roman name is Diana! They are separate goddesses. Hera and Artemis are the Greek names.
Thanks, Natalie. We’re all Greek here! In some versions of the story, Hera (Juno) turns Callisto into a bear. In other versions, it’s Artemis (Diana). Theoi has both versions of the story here, and it turns out there are others, too: https://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Kallisto.html
Love it! Even have considered it for my own children.
But…
It might be difficult to wear if a fellow is undersize and gangly.
If parents were U of Arizona grads, I could see them choosing it from the chant “bear down” (AKA persevere, win, knuckle down).
Best left as a nickname. When I hear “bear,” I think grouchy, hairy, stinky, and sleeps a lot. This accurately describes a teenage boy, but hopefully less so an adult man. I don’t think one man’s nickname makes the nickname usable for all.