# Bear (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/bear/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,356 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,356 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,147, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, related to bear * As a German surname, spelling variant of Baer and Bahr

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 85 | 1,731 |
| 2012 | 79 | 1,849 |
| 2013 | 86 | 1,710 |
| 2014 | 131 | 1,329 |
| 2015 | 134 | 1,320 |
| 2016 | 187 | 1,056 |
| 2017 | 198 | 1,020 |
| 2018 | 207 | 998 |
| 2019 | 244 | 897 |
| 2020 | 250 | 900 |
| 2021 | 288 | 827 |
| 2022 | 332 | 760 |
| 2023 | 299 | 820 |
| 2024 | 302 | 826 |
| 2025 | 286 | 853 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 7 | 2,613 |
| 2012 | 19 | 1,313 |
| 2013 | 15 | 1,539 |
| 2014 | 19 | 1,327 |
| 2015 | 36 | 856 |
| 2016 | 73 | 531 |
| 2017 | 85 | 480 |
| 2018 | 113 | 384 |
| 2019 | 114 | 382 |
| 2020 | 121 | 359 |
| 2021 | 108 | 398 |
| 2022 | 126 | 342 |
| 2023 | 102 | 392 |
| 2024 | 75 | 519 |
| 2025 | 117 | 360 |

## People named Bear

- Bear McCreary, American composer
- Elizabeth Bear, American writer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.