Names That Mean Bear

Corsican form of Ursus

The slashed O form of Bjorn is standard in Norway and Denmark. The umlaut variation, Björn is used in most other languages today.

Birna is unlikely to be a hit in the US, but it's a current favorite in Iceland. Birna is also used in Finland and Scandinavia.

Bjarni is an ancient name derived from Bjǫrn, the Old Norse name and word for bear. Today Bjarni is primarily used in Iceland.

Björn is a pervasive Swedish name that can be found on popularity charts throughout Northern Europe and now in the US as well. There are too many renowned Björns (and Bjørns and Bjorns) to list them all here, but an early bearer is Björn Ironside, Viking chief and king of Sweden. Modern associations include tennis great Björn Borg, who helped popularize his name in the 1970s, and Björn Ulvaeus, one-quarter of the Swedish band ABBA.

Cornish Arthek is closely related to Arthur, as both derive from the Celtic arto, meaning "bear." It would make a distinctive choice for a child with Cornish heritage.

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

Torbjorn, written as Torbjörn in Swedish and Torbjørn in Norwegian, is derived from the Old Norse Þórbjǫrn, meaning "Thor's bear." It's currently a grandpa name in Scandinavia, but some ahead-of-the-curve parents have revived it for their sons.

This ferocious and fuzzy animal name has started to see some use among baby girls, particularly as a middle name. Reporter Katy Tur has a daughter named Eloise Judy Bear.

Strong and distinctive Scandinavian name with a powerful meaning to match.

This Yiddish boy name is the vernacular form of the Hebrew name Dov — both meaning "bear".

Deceptively close to Bernardo, but suaver.

A Swedish old-man name that is currently attracting more attention in its country of origin. It might be a hard sell in the English-speaking world, but a similar name like Torben or Torsten — or even just Tor — could function as a substitute.

A combination of the Hebrew Dov, and Yiddish Ber — both of which mean "bear".

Artús is a form of Arthur used in minority languages of southern France and northern Spain, such as Occitan, Asturian, and Catalan. In 2023, a French couple had this spelling rejected when registering their son's name, because it contains an accent not used in standard French.

The oldest, true original form of Björn, now obsolete.