Is the nickname Bear common or rare for any generation? Is the nickname common or rare for GenXers?

Posted by theresthatbear@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 93 comments

I just responded to a post in another sub that the name/nickname Bear is not rare.

The sub was for a particular film including a bear-related scene that was, well, traumatic and pivotal to the weight of the film's climactic ending. Comparing it to another film, the OP pointed to a character in the other film being named "Bear" as being such an usual and rare nickname that it must be a clue that points to the earlier film.

Other than that, essentially, there are no other similarities or coincidences.

My main point of contention is the fact that at age 58, I've had more friends and acquaintances named or nicknamed Bear than I can count. So, is it my imagination or is it pretty common, or is it rare?

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MNPS1603@reddit

Graduated in 94 and we had a chubby guy everyone called Bear. My ex had a nephew named Barron - his nickname was Bear and he’s Gen Alpha. I would not say it’s common but it does exist

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SmokeyFrank@reddit

We had a big dude in my graduating class (‘83) and got “Bear” because he has black hair and was one of the earliest to get a real deep bass singing voice (he skipped junior high choir) and body hair—he was naturally also on the football team.

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flashingcurser@reddit

Bear kind of took on a different meaning in my lifetime, or at least straights became aware of it.

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KrofftSurvivor@reddit

Yeah I feel like that's when the nickname dropped in popularity for the gen pop, lol

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braqass@reddit

I was called Bear for a while when I was younger. But I don’t understand this post at all. Why all the mystery? What was the movie and what did the bear do? I’d there some sort of issue with the movie. I’m so confused

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

Sorry I didn’t finish answering your question. It was hectic yesterday eating all that crow.

Without giving away any spoilers (hopefully), The “bear” in Midsommar was a human brought in to visit and study the cult with a small group of friends, invited by a member who was studying abroad at their university. as their thesis for their PhD. Without giving anything away too central to the plot, his friend also along on the trip for the same reason, and also having his intentions made clear to their group much earlier, was one among many ways the cult used the visitor’s existing distrust towards one another to isolate them and magnify the animosity between using the age-old methods that the cult members have been teaching them from birth and lies about religion and the supernatural.

The horror of what happens to the “bear” and all the many ways that can mean symbolically, for good *and* bad, is how I interpret Pandora’s Box. I’ve never met anyone who would follow that thought process through but gotdamn, it’s a helluva entertaining thought experiment.

The film OP was comparing to Midsommar had a whopping zero other connections but they were convinced the films were connected by the single piece of irrefutable evidence that a character named “Bear” in one show would have no other reason than to be referencing an ACTUAL bear sacrifice in another cult.

Gah!!

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

Midsommar was the film being discussed.

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Stompboxer1@reddit

Never really heard that, except for huggy bear

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Kindly-Might-1879@reddit

Bear Grylls

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Apart-Cream-4940@reddit

Never heard of it

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ImaginaryBadger3492@reddit

I’m gen x. ‘71. My ex called me Bear for a couple reasons 😂😎😉 I don’t think it’s terribly uncommon… As far as nicknames go? You could do worse…

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shesin_the_attic@reddit

My dog's name was Bear.

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fallcreekprepper@reddit

I thought it was mostly older than GenX. I knew a few people with the nickname Bear when I was growing up, and they were all around my parents' age or a little older. Also Coach Bear Bryant was still around when I was a young kid.

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PinkyLeopard2922@reddit

Feeling kind of ripped off that I've only known people with nicknames like Scuba and Cornbread. Never a bear.

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

😂😂😂 Scuba has to have a good back story I need to know!! Don’t hold back on us now.

I think we all can figure out the story behind Cornbread. 🧐

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PinkyLeopard2922@reddit

Lol, I am kind of dying laughing because I have known this person for like 20 years and have never even asked. He's just called "Scuba." It is definitely not because of any participation in water sports or anything. Now I feel compelled to ask next time I see him.

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

Please do! If not for yourself, please do it for me. I can’t imagine even moreso now how that nickname came out and I won’t be able to rest until I hear this story.

Thanks for sharing your story and another mystery. I live for this sht.

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JackWylder@reddit

I’ve known 3 so it’s not that uncommon

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

I’ve known 3 as well.

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tipareth1978@reddit

No, that's for older guys. Like guys who were in their 50s/60s in the 80s and rode motorcycles and wore leather vests but were actually tough, not the retired accountants who ride motorcycles now

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automator3000@reddit

No, those guys had badass nicknames, not names that could work for a baby’s toy.

I had one biker dude uncle. He was Smoke. Bear would have been soft.

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Altrebelle@reddit

I worked with a guy with the nickname "Oso" Mellow...but big dude

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iwasbear@reddit

Umm… I was Bear. Little Bear, to be exact.

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Bubbly_Following7930@reddit

Never knew anyone with that nickname.

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HornetParticular6625@reddit

I am formerly a member of the BDSM community. I knew a few bears, a number of wolves and a panther.

Seems like a power animal thing.

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run_squid_run@reddit

I knew a Bear in high school.

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Dirty_Wookie1971@reddit

Knew a guy everyone called Bear in high school. It was because he grew a full beard his freshmen or
Sophomore year.

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CountHonorius@reddit

I thought only Barrys were called "Bear"

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tgrantt@reddit

Roberts. French Ro-bear.

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kawyckoff@reddit

I’m also a Bear

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kawyckoff@reddit

Born 1968 btw😛

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SkirtTheBudgie@reddit

My dad had biker friends named Bear, Red Bear, & Black Bear. I call my husband Bear as a nickname & he's now calling me Boo Boo ( like in Yogi bear ) because of it.

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Historical_Monk_6118@reddit

That's NOT how I saw Yogi and Boo Boo's relationship 🫢

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SkirtTheBudgie@reddit

Same. I told him but he keeps saying saying it.

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daydreamersunion@reddit

The only Bears I have known are in the lgbtq community.

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Hungry-Treacle8493@reddit

😂😂😂

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Hungry-Treacle8493@reddit

I had a friend named Barry in HS that everyone just called Bear.

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Positive-Froyo-1732@reddit

I'm your age, and my parents sometimes call me Bear because when I was little I was crazy about teddy bears. But I would call it a term of endearment rather than a nickname - only my immediate family knows about it.

I don't personally know anyone whose nickname is Bear.

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Icky-Tree-Branch@reddit

My sister (older Gen X, while I’m a baby Gen X) was nicknamed Bear. It’s what I called her so much that my friends thought it was her name.

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Axle13@reddit

The only "Bear" I was familiar with was 'BJ & the Bear'. Can't think of anyone I ever knew with the nickname of bear.

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sherrib99@reddit

My parents have called me bear my whole life. Sherri = Sher bear

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jflearn@reddit

My daughter is a Sher Bear.

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itusedtorun@reddit

I knew a Bear in college. Sort of a hippie, granola girl. She was pretty cool to hang out with.

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zephyrthewonderdog@reddit

Anyone called Edward was by definition ‘Bear’. Edward, Teddy, teddy bear, bear.

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montemason@reddit

I thought Teddy was a nickname from Theodore.

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LadyNorbert@reddit

It's both, but the teddy bear specifically was named for Theodore Roosevelt.

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Alternative-Law4626@reddit

Yes, also. But, Edward too. Eg Edward “Teddy” Kennedy

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LadyNorbert@reddit

My husband calls me "hunny bear" (spelled that way, like in Winnie-the-Pooh), but I've never known anyone just called Bear.

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thewatchwinder@reddit

i have known like 6 "bears". they have all been dogs. its a really common name for a dog, evidently. not for people, near me anyway.

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KnightKrawler68@reddit

Never met any who has/had that nickname.

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BizzyQueenBee@reddit

My son’s name is Barrett, we call him Bear for short

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EddieKroman@reddit

A guy with the nickname “Bear” was usually a big, hairy guy who would be generally mellow and likable, but you didn’t want to end up on the wrong side of a problem with him.

A woman with the nickname “Bear” wasn’t usually a big, hairy woman who would be generally mellow and likable. It was usually a term of endearment, kinda like a Care Bear.

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LuceLeakey@reddit

I had a friend around my age who was called Graybear because that was his chosen online name. There was also an older guy (my parents age) nicknamed bear when I was a kid. Apparently it was because he was extremely hairy.

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Alternative-Law4626@reddit

I had a platoon sergeant in 1/32 INF called Bear McCarty. He’d been a Marine in Vietnam, but in the early 1980s he was a platoon sergeant in the Army.

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Trolkarlen@reddit

Björn is a very common name in Scandinavia, which means bear. I have a Swiss friend named Urs which also means bear.

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Comedywriter1@reddit

Remember the Good Times episode where Thelma moves out? One of her roommates is a big guy (nicknamed Bear) who constantly eats everyone’s food.

“We all take our chances with the Bear!” 😂

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

Oh, man. Those were good times.

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viewering@reddit

Bear, Honey, Moon, River

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HistoricalTowel1127@reddit

Dunno any bears although last year I was watching a doc about Asian wildlife and was actually surprised to learn that Turkey has a species of bears. They are pretty small and blonde/light brown. It was quickly glossed over and i wanted to learn more so i grabbed phone and searched “Turkish bear” and educated I was when almost every single image was of large hairy brown men. Most of them in their undies.

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eels-eels-eels@reddit

I went to high school with a Bear in the 90s (given name Bernard).

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Kooky-Ad1551@reddit

I knew a dog named Bear in the late 90s. I thought it was weird to name a dog Bear...but its ok, I've grown as a person, tried marijuana got hip, and can speak to the youth of America now.

Not one Bear nickname for a person though, thats too far out man. I'll try LSD and get back to you brother, but I think Bear is a bad nickname. Are you from Maine or Canada, or

Sweden that whole Bjorn thing is very common there. Jeg heter Bjorn...oof den ver sterk. Tusen tak. And all that....

Your from Scandinavia. Solved it.

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Skunkwks@reddit

I’ve been called bear since I was about 15, (im 66 now) given to me by a beloved uncle. Ann family know me as bear, and my grandson calls me grandpa bear.

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TypingisWriting@reddit

My wife is little bear

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Low_Cook_5235@reddit

I know a woman named Bear. In fact I don’t know her real name. Mid 20s.

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Dillenger69@reddit

Only if your best friend is B.J. McKay

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JollyGiant573@reddit

Why was the monkey named bear?

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JoeMagnifico@reddit

That's the only Bear I knew as a kid.

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

😂😂😂

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JollyGiant573@reddit

Never knonw any Bears. Only a Grape Ape, myself.

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CK_CoffeeCat@reddit

There was a guy named Moose in my grad class in 1990. No Bears though.

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Komaisnotsalty@reddit

I know a couple of people with 'Bear' as a nickname, but they're my age. I haven't seen that used in a long time, but 'Bear' has a sexual connotation these days, so that's not too surprising.

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thedarkforest_theory@reddit

We named the dog bear.

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esp735@reddit

I knew a Pepper, Duckie, and a Smiley, but no bears.

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oz_scott@reddit

I'm not too worried about the guy called "Killer." He probably killed his mums plants while she was on vacation, or was too busy texting and drove through a flock of geese. Or maybe he's a twat and they call him that ironically.

I'm not afraid of Killer, but I'm going to be very wary around the big guy called "Mittens."

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punkdrummer22@reddit

Never met anyone with the nickname Bear

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nonotburton@reddit

I've never known anyone with the nickname of just bear. Claire bear, buddy bear, sure, but none of them grew up up just be "bear".

I also grew up in New Orleans, so perhaps it's not very common in metto areas?

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NaturGirl@reddit

My husband's nickname for our 16yr old daughter has always been "bear."

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MathematicianEqual40@reddit

My mom's nickname for me was Bear. When I was really little she called me Baby Bear and then it was just shortened to Bear. I'm a tiny little lady who is definitely not hairy, so it was a sweet term of endearment. 🧸

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TimeenoughatlastTZ@reddit

My boyfriend’s nickname for me in college was Bear (late 80’s). I’m not sure why, I can’t really remember how he came up with it because there’s nothing about me that is bear like. But we’re still friends so I’m going to ask him tomorrow.

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ChartanTheDM@reddit

My parents' pet names for each other were Bear and Bunny.

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Zealousideal_Draw_94@reddit

I know of 3 big hairy guys with some version of bear as a nickname

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timster@reddit

Bear Grylls? Just a nickname though.

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theresthatbear@reddit (OP)

That didn’t take long to settle. It is a rare occurrence. I stand corrected.

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