Names That Mean Bear

Derived from the Gaulish and old Celtic word artos meaning "bear", Artula shares its roots with the classic boy name Arthur. Some sources also suggest it could be linked, or even part of the inspiration behind the Latin name Ursula, which has the same meaning, but from the Latin Ursa.

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.

Corsican form of Ursus

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

Also spelled Artūrs, this is one of many international forms of the classic Arthur. Both spellings of the name are popular in Latvia and ranked in the Top 100 in a recent year. Notable bearers include Latvian ice hockey players Artūrs Irbe and Artūrs_Šilovs, Olympic rower Artūrs Garonskis, and chess player Arturs Neikšāns. In Latvian, the sounds are just slightly gentler than they are in the English pronunciation.

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

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

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.

A Slovene diminutive of Ursula. Unlike in the Anglosphere, where many still see Ursula as a heavy name, Urška is popular in Slovenia and has even ranked in the Top 20.