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Looking for great names for a teddy bear? Then you’ve come to the right place. This is the ultimate list of teddy bear name ideas, perfect for the new stuffed bear in your life.
Our baby recently became obsessed with a little teddy bear she was given for participating in a vaccine study. This plush bear goes absolutely everywhere with her. Watching her hug the bear as she toddles around is almost too adorable.
She is barely talking but she still managed to name him: Bear Bear. A creative whiz, clearly.
As time has gone on, her love of Bear Bear has extended to every stuffed animal in the house that looks even slightly like a teddy bear. And of course, they’re all called Bear Bear.
This got me researching a list of better names for a teddy bear. Below you’ll find the fruits of my hours of research, including from my own database of over 2000 names.
For easier navigation, I’ve broken the list down into section. First you’ll find names meaning bear from around the world, and boys and girls names that would be cute on a teddy bear.
Then I curated lists of names for different color bears and different types of bears.
After that, you’ll find different styles of teddy bear names, like cute bear names and funny names for a teddy bear.
We close the list with more unique bear name ideas, and some niche categories like Christmas bear names and Ty beanie baby bear names.
And if you’re looking for more stuffed animal names, don’t forget to check out 101+ Names for Stuffed Dinosaurs.
Let’s go on a bear (name) hunt!
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Why are stuffed bears called “teddy bears”?
First, why are teddy bears named teddy bear in the first place? Teddy bears are called teddy in reference to president Theodore Roosevelt (source).
President Roosevelt was on a hunting trip competition and had failed to kill an animal. His assistants captured and tied up a bear for him to shoot to help him compete.
However, Teddy refused to shoot the bear and called it unsportsmanlike. This made national news and toy makers named Morris and Rose Michtom saw an opportunity to market a soft stuffed bear as “Teddy’s bear.”
They were a hit and plush stuffed bears are now ubiquitously known as teddy bears.
10 best teddy bear names
Since there are so many teddy bear names on this list, I wanted to start out with some top contenders first.
Think of these 10 best teddy bear names as a TLDR of my 10 favorite names from my hours of research.
- Bear Bear: obviously I’m biased and hold a special place for our baby’s Bear Bear
- Bjorn: a name meaning bear
- Jolene: a fashionable girl name that would be cute for a bear
- Bear Chub: a funny play on “bear cub” for a giant teddy bear
- Otis: I love the old man vibe for a teddy bear name
- Lentil: my favorite name for a brown teddy bear
- Beary Styles: for the pop culture fans
- Pancake: a very unique teddy bear name
- Pedals: after the famous bear who walked upright on his hind legs
- Grizz: both a teddy bear nickname and a great 30 Rock reference
Names that mean bear
Now diving into all the different names for a teddy bear, we start with names that mean bear from around the world.
- Ari: Albanian for bear
- Arthur: a name meaning “bear” from Celtic origins
- Arturo: a name meaning “bear” from Spanish & Italian origins
- Barrett: means “bear strength” from German roots
- Beer: the Dutch word for “bear”
- Bera: means “bear” in Icelandic
- Bjorn: a Scandinavian name meaning “bear”
- Ibu: means “bear” in Igbo, a language spoken in Nigeria, Benin and Cameroon
- Kai: means bear in Hausa, a West African language
- Karhu: the Finnish word for “bear”
- Karu: Estonian for “bear”
- Kubeba: a Swahili word for “bear”
- Orson: a French and Latin-derived name meaning “bear”
- Orso: a name meaning “bear” with Latin roots
- Oso: the word for bear in Spanish
- Pea: means “bear” in Hawaiian
- Snositi: Croatian for bear
- Ursa: Latin for “bear”
- Ursula: not just a sea witch, Ursula means “female bear” in Latin
Good names for a teddy bear by gender
If you like human names on animals, these next sections are for you. First up are girl names for teddy bears, followed by cute boy names for teddy bears.
Girl names for teddy bears
- Jessica
- Ava
- Nova
- Beatrice
- Eloise
- Peyton
- Cynthia
- Jolene
- Juliette
- Juno
- Winnie
- Zelda
- Marley
- Sophie
- Thea
Cute boy teddy bear names
- Bernard
- Alfie
- Ralph
- Harold
- Roscoe
- Harvey
- Otis
- Clarence
- Lionel
- Elvis
- Rocky
- Calvin
- Tobin
- Remy
- Duncan
Famous teddy bear names from pop culture
From Winnie the Pooh to Smokey, there are lots of famous bears in the pop culture ether. Here is a list of famous teddy bear names to inspire you.
- Corduroy: the main character in Don Freedman’s classic children’s book by the same name.
- Winnie: perhaps the most famous teddy bear name, Winnie-the-Pooh
- Pooh: an alternative name referencing Winnie-the-Pooh
- Yogi: Yogi is the name of the famous cartoon bear
- Boo-boo: Boo-boo was the companion to Yogi the bear
- Smokey: Smokey was the mascot of the American campaign to prevent forest fires
- Pedals: the real life bear that was filmed walking upright because of a paw injury
- Paddington: a famous bear from the British children’s book and television series
- Rupert: Rupert was the name of the famous bear in the British comic strip
- Snuggle: a name referencing the famous Snuggle fabric softener bear
- Ruxpin: Teddy Ruxpin was a talking toy bear from the 1980’s
- Funshine: the name of the one of the Carebears
- Tenderheart: the name of the leader of the Carebears
- Brigsby: the name of a bear in the movie Brigsby Bear
- Chiltern: a famous toy teddy bear from English
- SuperTed: SuperTed is another famous teddy bear character from a children’s book series
- Kenai: the name of the lead character in the Disney movie Brother Bear
- Lotso: the famous villain teddy bear in Toy Story 3
- Pooky: Pooky is the name of Garfield the Cat’s comfort teddy bear
- Mr. Bear: Mr. Bear was the teddy bear of Full House’s Stephanie
- Howard: the name of the teddy bear left on the Empire State Building in the iconic scene from Sleepless in Seattle
Names for different colored teddy bears
Let the color of your teddy bear help inspire their new name. Here are good teddy bear names based on colors.
Names for brown teddy bears
- Auburn: a reddish brown color
- Hazel: Hazel would be a great name for a brown teddy bear with greenish eyes
- Siena: a reddish brown color
- Bruno: Bruno is a name meaning brown for German
- Donovan: Donovan would be an apt pick for a brown bear because the name means “brown-haired.”
- Autumn: a name associated with the brown colors of changing leaves
- Sorrell: a light reddish-brown color
- Lentil
- Woody
- Roux: a French name that means reddish brown
- Baize: Baize would make a cool name for a brown teddy bear, it comes from French meaning “dark brown”
- Tawny
Names for white teddy bears
- Blake: Blake is a name that means both white and dark
- Fiona: a name meaning “fair” or “white”
- Pearl
- Biana: Biana means “white”
- Guinevere: this name means “white phantom” and would be a dramatic name for a white teddy bear
- Ivory
- Daisy: a white flower name perfect for a sweet white teddy bear
- Moonflower: another white flower that has a hippy vibe (more hippy name ideas here!)
- Snowman
- Cotton
- Beluga: begula, a white whale, would make a funny and unique name for a white teddy bear
- Dominos: though dominos can be any color, they are most traditionally white with black dots
Red teddy bear names
- Tabasco
- Rowan: a name meaning “little red head”
- Rory: a name meaning “red headed prince”
- Blaze
- Clancy: a name meaning “red headed warrior”
- Poppy: a red flower
- Ruby: As a red gemstone, Ruby would make a cute name for a red teddy bear
- Lobster: animals named after other animals is never not fun.
- Begonia: a red flower
- Cherry
- Scarlett
- Redmond
- Reda
Blue teddy bear names
- Blue BEARymore: a name that plays on Drew Barrymore for a blue teddy bear (not going to lie, I was pretty proud of myself for thinking of this one)
- Periwinkle: Periwinkle would make an adorable name for a blue teddy bear, as the color is a blue hue with purple tones.
- Bluebell: a cute name for a blue lovey
- Azula: a name derived from the Spanish word for blue
- Indigo: a deep blue color
- Sky: Sky is a straight forward name for a blue teddy bear
- Bluford: a grandpa-chic name that starts with blue
- Blue Ivy: a perfect name for a blue teddy bear for someone who loves Beyonce (the name of her first daughter)
- Kailani: Kailani is a name that means sea and sky, which are both blue
- Marvin: a name meaning “sea friend”
- Eiffel: a reference to the band who sang the infectious song “Blue”
Names for black teddy bears
- Onyx: a name honoring the black gemstone
- Jett: a name meaning “jet black” that would be a cool black teddy bear name
- Melanie: a name meaning “black” from Greek origins
- Merle: a name meaning “blackbird”
- Oriole: a name meaning “blackbird”
- Cole: a name referencing black coal
- Colton: Colton means from a coal town, implying a black tone
- Bronson: a name meaning “son of a dark one”
- Pepper: a black colored spice
- Obsidian: a dark glass formed by volcanic lava
Names for a pink teddy bear
- Pinky: an obvious name pick for a pink teddy bear
- Floyd: for Pink Floyd
- Pina: Pina is a charming name that sounds similar to pink
- Cotton Candy: a treat that is often pink colored
- Pembe: a Turkish name meaning pink that would work great for a pink teddy bear
- Azalea: a flower that can be pink in color
- Rosie: a pinkish red color
- Flamingo: the pink bird
- Hillier: in honor of a striking pink lake in Australia
- Blossom: for pink cherry blossoms
Purple teddy bear names
- Eggplant
- Lavender
- Mauve: close to trendy name Maeve, Mauve is a bluish purple color
- Violeta
- Plum
- Orchid
- Purple Potato
- Ione: a Greek-originating name meaning “violet”
- Amethyst: as a purple gemstone, Amethyst would make a good name for a purple teddy bear
- Lilac
Names for different types of bears
Now let’s turn to name ideas for different types of stuffed bears. You’ll find name ideas for polar bears, panda bears, and koala bears.
Names for polar bears
- Neva: Neva is a name meaning “white snow”
- Glacier
- Constantine: Constantine was the name of the first person known to describe the polar bear
- Maritimus: Maritimus is part of the scientific name for polar bears, Ursus Maritimus
- Nanook: the Inuit name for polar bears
- Isbjorn: the Norwegian word for polar bear which means “ice bear”
- Thala: a nod to polar bears original genus, Thalarctos (they are now in the same genus as other bears).
- Charles: in honor of where the oldest polar bear fossil was found, on Prince Charles Foreland
- Opposite: for polar opposite
- Polarized
- Snowbank
- Vortex: for polar vortex
Names for stuffed panda bears
- Sichuan: a name a referencing a region in China with a giant panda sanctuary
- Ailu: a nickname for pandas scientific species name, Ailuropoda melanoleuca.
- Bamboo: a name for pandas primary food
- Bamboozled: a cute name for pandas that puns off of their eating bamboo
- PANDAmonium: a funny name for a stuffed panda
- Checkers: checker boards are black and white like pandas
- Oreo: another name for pandas black and white color
- Orca: Orca would be a funny name for a panda, and they share pandas coloring
- Pandora: a word similar to pandas, Pandora is a name from Greek mythology
- Amanda: a name rhyming with panda
- Miranda: another name rhyming with panda
- Fernanda: a final name that rhymes with panda
Names for plush koala bears
- Koalaty: a koala bean pun name off “quality”
- Coca-Koala: a play on Coca-Cola
- Yala: a nickname for the Bangla word for koala, koyala.
- Lou: a way to say koala in Haitian Creole
- Lala: Lala the koala has a nice ring to it
- Joey: the name of baby koalas
- Morpheus: Morpheus, the god sleep and dreams, is a fitting name for a koala since they sleep so much
- Eucalyptus: a name for the food that koalas eat
- Garfield: a character that loves sleeping as much as koalas
- Almos: a Hungarian word for drowsy and sleepy, in honor of koalas sleeping up to 20 hours a day.
Names inspired by other types of bears
- Kodiak
- Sloth
- Grizzly
- Sun Bear
- Spectacle
- Arctos: part of the scientific name for brown bears
- Red: for red pandas
Cute teddy bear names
Next up we have cute names for teddy bears. First up is a general section of delightful names, then you’ll find alliterative bear names that are almost too cutesy.
And to wrap up the section on adorable names, you’ll find nickname style names for teddy bears.
- Puffs
- Trix
- Lulu
- Milo
- Piglet
- Maisie
- Tutu
- Ozzie
- Gus Gus
- Mitzy
- Babycakes
- Minnie
- Harper
- Bunny
- Olive
- Ezra
- Elmer
- Tully
- Gogo
- Mimzy
Alliterative teddy bear names
These alliterative names all start with B or T so they flow well with bear or teddy.
- Blair Bear
- Birdie Bear
- Beau Bear
- Bella Bear
- Bodhi Bear
- Briar Bear
- Bailey Bear
- Billy Bear
- Bowie Bear
- Bradley Bear
- Brody Bear
- Bryson Bear
- Bay Bear
- Talia Teddy
- Tatiana Teddy
- Titus Teddy
- Tobias Teddy
- Tolbert Teddy
- Treasure Teddy
- Truman Teddy
Nicknames for teddy bears
This section has nicknames names related to teddy bears.
- Cub: the name for a young bear
- Eddy: a nickname for the ‘teddy’ part of teddy bear
- Theo: another nickname for Theodore, in honor of Teddy Roosevelt
- Grizz: a nickname for Grizzly bears, and a pop culture nod to 30 Rock
- Gruff: from the idiom “as gruff as a bear”
- Honey: a nickname-style name for bear’s alleged favorite treat
- Osito: the “ito” ending in Spanish connotes something little and is a nickname of affection. Here Osito means “little bear.”
- Bozo: Bozo is a nickname for the name Theodore in Bulgaria
- Teo: Teo is another nickname for Theodore and Teddy
Names for big teddy bears
Were you given a really big teddy bear? Here are some good teddy bear name ideas specifically for giant teddy bears.
- Titan: this Greek name meaning “big, strong defender” is a great name for a big teddy bear
- Grande: the Spanish word for large
- Tiny: an ironic name for a big teddy bear
- Venti: the largest drink at Starbucks
- Maximus: the word for large in Latin
- Magnum: another Latin word meaning big
- Godzilla
- Pudge: short for pudgy
- Grant: a name meaning “tall”
- BFG: an abbreviation for “big friendly giant” and a reference to the Roald Dahl book
- Bear Chub: a funny play on “bear cub” for a giant teddy bear
Funny & clever teddy bear names
Next we have funny names for a teddy bear. First up are general funny bear names and then you’ll find bear pun names.
- Beary Styles: a play on Harry Styles
- Fernando: for an obscure pop culture reference, Fernando was the name of a teddy bear at the center of an episode of the Golden Girls
- Fruit: for the idoim “bear fruit”
- Average: a play on the phrase “smarter than the average bear”
- Poke: from the idoim “poke a bear.”
- Bonnie bear: kind of sounds like Bon Iver
- BarBEARa Walters: a play on Barbara Walters, which is a great name for a teddy bear
- Polaroid: a funny name for a stuffed polar bear
- Prince Beary: a play off of Prince Harry
- Dave Beary: a nod to humorist Dave Barry
Teddy bear pun names
The following funny bear names all include puns on the word bear. My favorite is GooseBEARy because Goose would be a great nickname for a stuffed bear.
- BEARium: a play on the element Barium
- BarBEARian: a teddy bear pun name off the word Barbarian
- BEARfoot: a pun name on barefoot
- ShakesBEARe: a pun on Shakespeare
- BEARon: a word play on the name Baron
- BlueBEARry: a great bear pun name for a blue teddy bear
- BEARbank: a play on Burbank, the California city
- BarBEARra : a bear pun on the name Barbara (BarBEARa Walters or BarBEARa Streisand would be great names too)
- BEARister: a pun name off of barrister, for proper and respectable stuffed teddy bears
- GooseBEARY: another pun name for a teddy bear with a fun nickname of Goose
- BEARlin: city names are on-trend making this cute pun off Berlin even better
Unique teddy bear names
Here are some cool, off the wall name ideas that would make for unique teddy bear names.
- Poolside
- Yancy
- Hambone
- Toes: this unique name idea comes from one of my favorite old McSweeney’s lists.
- Pancake
- Connie
- Arlington
- Kirby
- Kale: Kale would be a funny name for a green teddy bear
- Bruce
- Argus
- Iggy
- Cove
- Confetti
- Moose
- Luella
- Wednesday
- Pip
- Oleander
- Frou-Frou
Christmas bear names
Many kids receive teddy bears as Christmas gifts, so here is a list of Christmas inspired names for teddy bears.
- Noelle: a French name meaning Christmas
- Natala: means Christmas in Italian
- Natasha: a Russian name meaning “born on Christmas”
- Noel: a boy name meaning Christmas from French roots
- Koleda: Koleda means Christmas in Bulgarian
- Buddy: the elf character name in the Christmas movie Elf
- Yule: Yule is a noun meaning Christmas
- Eve: a Christmas teddy bear name in honor of Christmas eve
- Holly: a girl’s name that is also a traditional Christmas decoration
- Carol: a name that can be a nod to Christmas carols
- Jovie: the name of the love interest in Elf
- Merry: Merry could be a cute name for a Christmas teddy bear
- Nicholas: a name in honor of St. Nicholas
- Zuzu: the name of the daughter in It’s a Wonder Life, the famous Christmas movie
- Mistletoe: the Christmas decor
Ty Beanie Baby plush bear names
Finally, for any millennials out there looking for nostalgic names, here is a list of teddy bear names from the Ty beanie baby collection.
- Liberty
- Princess
- Maple
- Garcia
- Halo
- Erin
- Glory
- Britannia
- Cubbie
- Brownie
- Almond
- Blackie
- Cheery
- Clover
- Curly
- Valentina
- Haunt
- Hope
- Hug-hug
- Kicks
- Kissy
- Peace
Looking for more name ideas? Check out:
