Bear

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Bear: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Bear: Recorded since 2007, it reached #326 in 2021, and it stood at #676 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
25times a registrar ranked it
19years from first to last
#326highest recorded position
4groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 2007–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
2007	#3095
2009	#2837
2010	#2941
2011	#2613
2012	#1313
2013	#1539
2014	#1327
2015	#856
2016	#531
2017	#480
2018	#384
2019	#382
2020	#359
2021	#398
2022	#342
2023	#392
2024	#519

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in 17 of the 18 years from 2007 to 2024.

In 2024: #432 among boys in Scotland, #519 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 2007–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded2007
First recorded at #3095 among boys in England and Wales in 2007 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #676 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Boys

Bear appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 17 years beginning in 2007, and has registered 1,030 births with the name.

Bear across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Bear's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#3095 (2007)	#342 (2022)	#519 (2024)	17 of 18	1,030 (2007–2024)	126 (2022)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#601 (2016)	#572 (2022)	#676 (2025)	6 of 10	24 (2016–2025)	5 (2022)

Bear by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Bear in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
2000s	11	2 of 10	6
2010s	487	10 of 10	49
2020sbusiest	532	5 of 10	106

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 106 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2015 and 2016, when recorded births rose by 37, from 36 to 73.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Bear appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 2007 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #326 in Northern Ireland in 2021.

Bear's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#519	75	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#392	102	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#342	126	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#398	108	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#359	121	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#382	114	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#384	113	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#480	85	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#531	73	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#856	36	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1327	19	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1539	15	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1313	19	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#2613	7	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#2941	6	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#2837	6	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#3095	5	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	male	#326	5	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	male	#676	4	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	male	#770	3	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#572	5	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	male	#637	4	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	male	#610	4	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	male	#601	4	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#432	7	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 2007 and 2025, ranked in 18 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #326, first reached in 2021.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 126 births, registered in England and Wales in 2022.

Its record falls into 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2016, and 17 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Baylie · #2097, 21y
Bea · #372, 26y
Beata · #141, 49y
Beate · #47, 70y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Avah · #328, 18y
Rayah · #328, 22y
Karter · #320, 22y
Theia · #333, 20y

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 2000 and 2009.

Aayan · #328, 21y
Armandas · #328, 19y
Arnas · #328, 21y
Avah · #328, 18y

Bear was ranked #326 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 2021. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Bear and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Bear without appearing here.

Bear moved ahead of

Arne Compare
In 2014 they stood at #3095 and #3095 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2015 that had become #856 and #4747.
Rodney Compare
In 2011 they stood at #2613 and #2613 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #1313 and #4805.
Hans Compare
In 2011 they stood at #2613 and #2613 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #1313 and #3987.
Brooke Compare
In 2009 they stood at #2837 and #2318 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2010 that had become #2941 and #4678.

Moved ahead of Bear

Finlay Compare
In 2016 they stood at #601 and #713 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2017 that had become #610 and #610.

Moved the opposite way to Bear

Aaron Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 while Aaron went from #49 to #154.
Alan Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 while Alan went from #226 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 while Alex went from #58 to #171.
Alexander Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 while Alexander went from #22 to #36.

Moved the same way as Bear

Aksel Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 and Aksel from #3589 to #1132.
Albie Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 and Albie from #400 to #19.
Alfred Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 and Alfred from #140 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 2007 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Bear went from #3095 to #519 and Archie from #33 to #10.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 2007 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #326 in Northern Ireland in 2021. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Bear

Bear at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Bear across 2 official records

Bear by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Bear appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Names published alongside Bear

Bear and the names beside it

Bear moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Bear

Moved the opposite way to Bear

Moved the same way as Bear

Bear at a glance

Bear across 2 official records

Bear by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Bear appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Names published alongside Bear

Bear and the names beside it

Bear moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Bear

Moved the opposite way to Bear

Moved the same way as Bear