Bear Name Generator

Bear names split neatly into a few families, and knowing them helps you pick the right one. Storybook and screen bears set the tone for cute names: Paddington, Winnie the Pooh, Baloo, Yogi, Corduroy, Fozzie and Rupert, and more recently Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear from We Bare Bears and Kenai and Koda from Brother Bear. Names that literally mean bear are the second family, and they travel across languages: Arthur and Artio (Celtic), Bjorn and Bjarni (Norse), Bernard and Beren (Germanic), Orson and Ursula (Latin ursus), Oso and Osito (Spanish), Kuma (Japanese), Misha (Russian diminutive) and Nanuq (Inuit, polar bear).

The third family describes the bear: heavy, earthy names for grizzlies and Kodiaks (Boulder, Timber, Kodiak, Bruin), snow and ice for polar bears (Glacier, Klondike, Knut, after Berlin Zoo's famous cub), and doubled syllables for pandas in the Chinese zoo tradition (Bao Bao, Mei Mei, Tian Tian). Food names round things out, because bears eat honey, salmon and berries and because a teddy bear named Marmalade or Biscuit is irresistible.

For real pets, most of these names land on bear-like dogs such as Newfoundlands, Chow Chows and Bernese mountain dogs, and on very fluffy cats. For plush bears, puns like Sir Bearington and Bearlock Holmes are always in season.