Bear
A gender-neutral name of English origin representing strength and courage.
Name Census estimates that about 3,043 living Americans carry the first name Bear. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bear today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bear births was 2022 (331 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bear. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bear with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Bear is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 112,637 Americans
Peak year
2022
331 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#826
Tracked since 1975
Census
Bear in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,409 people with the first name Bear, which placed it at #6,615 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,615
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,409 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bear
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bear is White at 70.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.7%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bear described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bear at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.9% · 1,707
- Hispanic or Latino11.7% · 283
- Two or more races8.6% · 207
- Black or African American3.7% · 89
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 80
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 43
Popularity
Bear: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bear from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,468 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bear by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bear during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bears live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Bear, while Nebraska, New Jersey, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bear
The name Bear is a modern English word derived from the Old English word "bera", which itself came from the Proto-Germanic "beran". This name has its origins in the Germanic languages and can be traced back to around the 5th century AD. It is believed to be a reference to the bear animal, which was highly revered and seen as a powerful symbol in many ancient cultures.
In Old Norse mythology, the bear was associated with the gods Odin and Thor, and it was believed that warriors who died in battle would be reborn as bears. The bear was also a symbol of strength, courage, and endurance, making it a popular choice for a name.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Bear can be found in the Codex Runicus, a 9th-century manuscript that contains runic inscriptions. The name appears as "Bera", which was a common name among Germanic tribes at the time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bear. One of the earliest was Bera of Northumbria (c. 615 - 687), a Northumbrian princess and saint who founded several monasteries in England. Another was Bear the Black (c. 950 - 1020), a Viking warrior and explorer who is believed to have journeyed to North America centuries before Christopher Columbus.
In the 12th century, there was Bear of Clairvaux (c. 1090 - 1153), a Cistercian monk and writer who was a close friend of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. During the Middle Ages, the name Bear was also borne by several English noblemen, including Bear de Greystoke (c. 1256 - 1333) and Bear de Beaumont (c. 1315 - 1379).
In more recent times, notable figures with the name Bear include Bear Bryant (1913 - 1983), an American college football coach and one of the most successful and influential coaches in the history of the sport. There was also Bear Grylls (born 1974), a British adventurer and television presenter best known for his survival skills and outdoor adventures.
The name Bear has endured through the centuries, likely due to its strong and symbolic associations with courage, strength, and endurance. While it may have fallen out of favor in some regions, it remains a popular choice for parents seeking a unique and meaningful name for their child.
People
Bear + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bear as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bear: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bear?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,043 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bear going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 112,637 US residents.
Is Bear a common name?
We classify Bear as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,066 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bear most popular?
The single biggest year for Bear was 2022, when 331 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bear is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bear in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,409 people with the name Bear, or 0.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,615 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bear in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bear?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bear leans strongly male. 2,237 people counted with this name were male (92.9%), compared with 171 female bearers (7.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bear?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bear is White at 70.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.7%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bear most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bear in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.9% (1,707 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bear in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bear a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bear in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bear still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bear in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bear can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Bear?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.