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Bear

Animal name
"bear"
Linda Rosenkrantz
By Linda Rosenkrantz
Updated Tue Jul 01 2025

Bear Origin and Meaning

The name Bear is a boy's name of English origin meaning "bear".

Bear has suddenly lumbered onto the baby name landscape. Perhaps inspired by British adventurer Bear Grylls (born Edward Michael), first celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used it as the middle name for his boy Buddy, and Alicia Silverstone called her son Bear Blu, followed by Kate Winslet's Bear Blaize.

The name Bear is part of a current trend normalizing once aggressive animal names like Wolf, Hawk, and Fox. Bear now ranks in the Top 1000 in both the US and England.

# 826 in the US

Bear Rank in US Top 1000

# 356 on Nameberry

Bear Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Bear

20 Names Similar to Bear

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Bear.

Famous People Named Bear

  • Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls
    English survival expert and TV personality
  • Bear Rinehart
    lead singer of Christian rock group Needtobreathe
  • Paul William "Bear" Bryant
    American football coach
  • Bear McCreary
    American composer and musician
  • Bear Blu Jarecki (b. 2011)
    son of actress Alicia Silverstone and Christopher Jarecki
  • Bear Blaze Winslet (b. 2013)
    son of actress Kate Winslet and Ned Rocknroll
  • Bear Grey Payne (b. 2017)
    son of singers Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole
  • Everly Bear Kiedis (b. 2007)
    son of singer Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver (b. 2010)
    son of celeb chefs Jamie and Jools Oliver
  • Albert the Bear
    first Margrave of Brandenburg

The name Bear in Pop Culture

  • Bear Savage
    character in Patricia Pendergraft's "Miracle at Clement's Pond"

The name Bear in Nameberry Blog Posts