Names That Mean Bear

Once a diminutive for Arthur, now used in its own right. Tuur is a Top 100 name in Belgium and a Top 300 name in the Netherlands.

Rhythmic and powerful, if you don't mind the nickname Vern.

Bernie is an old school unisex nickname name, on the order of Bobbie or Willie. Not the most modern or most attractive name around, but it has a certain vintage charm.

A dapper English surname derived from the Old English personal name Hunwine "bear friend", which comes with winning nickname Win.

The name of a sixth century Welsh saint who founded abbeys in Brittany, reconstituted for a modern girl.

Espn was first recorded as a girl name in 2015, eleven years after it was first used for boys. It's considered a variation of the Scandinavian male name Espen, although its use can be attributed to the cable sports channel ESPN, which stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.

Future CEO.

This Dutch name is a spelling variation of Sibren, derived from the Old German names Sigbern and Sigbrand.

Artio is a Celtic bear goddess, whose name relates to the Celtic word artos, meaning "bear" — related to the name Arthur.

Cornish form of the Welsh name Arthen, meaning "bear".

Orsola is chic in Italy in a way that Ursula is not in the U.S. And English speakers will inevitably hear this chic, sleek name as Ursula, condemned to purgatory as the name of the hideous sea-witch who terrorized Disney's Little Mermaid.

If you're looking for a girl's name that honors an ancestral Arthur, try Artis.

The adorable animal name made its way into the baby name pool when Macklemore used it as the middle name for his daughter Colette in 2018.

Berold is one of the more obscure boy names meaning bear, which also include Arthur, Orson, and (in a different vein) Teddy.

Mathúin means "bear" in Irish Gaelic. As Mathghamhain, this was the name of a brother of the Irish king Brian Boru.

Too close in sound to the so-far-out-it-will-always-be-out Bernard.

If you're looking for a girl's name that honors an ancestral Arthur, try Artis.

Berangere has never seen much usage in the US, but it has an interesting meaning of "bear spear." The name it stems from—Berengaria—was used as a common royal name during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.