Bear
Bear was the 853rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 286 babies. Its best year was 2022, when it ranked 760th with 332 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 467 places. More babies were named Bear in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning bear (word name) · English, Old English
Say it BAIR /bɛɹ/
- Rank in 2025
- #853 boys, up 47 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 286boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2022332 babies
- Total since 1880
- 3,356babies recorded
What does the name Bear mean?
Bear is the English word for the animal, from Old English bera, used as a given name. It goes back to a Germanic word often explained as 'the brown one', used to avoid naming the animal directly; the same word gives Bjorn and Bernard. Bear has also long been a nickname, and Wiktionary lists it as an English surname and a variant of German Baer. As a first name it is a recent American choice, recorded since the 1970s.
bera (Old English, “bear”)*berô (Proto-Germanic, “bear ('brown one')”)
How sure is this? Well established. The 'brown one' explanation of the Germanic word is standard but reconstructed.
Related names: Bjorn, Bernard, Barrett.
See also: English names, names that mean an animal.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Bear', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'bear' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (our computation), SSA (public domain)
Bear popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #853 | 286 |
| 2020 | #900 | 250 |
| 2010 | #2,357 | 54 |
| 2000 | #9,204 | 6 |
| 1990 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Bear, counting every spelling?
Bear is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #751 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #853 for Bear on its own. Together these spellings went to 332 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear | 286 | #853 | 1,507 |
| Behr | 20 | #4,876 | 104 |
| Baer | 15 | #5,890 | 85 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Bear?
286 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Bear (0.08 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Bear born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 29 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Bear.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Bear?
About 3,300 people born in the US named Bear are alive today, with a median age of 6; half are between 3 and 10. That makes Bear a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Bear by state
How common Bear was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Arkansas (3.2×), Utah (2.6×), Colorado (2.5×), Oklahoma (2.5×), Oregon (2.3×). In 17 states fewer than five boys a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Bear: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Bear, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Bear · Sibling names for Bear
Questions about the name Bear
What does Bear mean?
Bear means “bear (word name)” (English, Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Bear?
Bear was the 853rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 286 babies. Its best year was 2022, when it ranked 760th with 332 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 467 places. More babies were named Bear in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Bear a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Bear in the US.
Where is Bear most popular?
In 2021–2025, Bear was most common in Arkansas (0.55 per 1,000 boys), followed by Utah and Colorado.