Bear Family History
Bear Name Meaning
English: from the Middle English nickname Bere meaning
‘bear’ (Old English bera, which is also found as a byname), or
possibly from a personal name derived from a short form of the various
Germanic compound names with this first element. Compare for example
Bernhard. The bear has generally been regarded with a mixture
of fear and amusement because of its strength and unpredictable temper
on the one hand and its clumsy gait on the other, and in the medieval
period it was also thought to typify the sins of sloth and
gluttony. All these characteristics are no doubt reflected in the
nickname. Throughout the Middle Ages the bear was a familiar figure in
popular entertainments such as bear baiting and dancing bears.English: variant spelling of the habitational name Beer.Probably a translation of cognates of 1 in other languages,
for example German Baer, and also an Americanized spelling of
German Bahr.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
322,864
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Bear
Name Distribution of Bear Families
MAP:
England & Wales
Number of Bear families
 116 - 230  39 - 115 |
 1 - 38  |
from the 1891 England and Wales Census Data
Bear census records
You can see how Bear families moved over time by selecting different Census years.
Census records can tell you little-known facts about your ancestors such as birthplace, occupation and value of personal estate.
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Bear Family Origin
Bear Family Occupations
from 1881 UK Census Data
Bear census records
Census records can offer a lot of little known facts about your Bear ancestors, such as occupation.
Occupation can tell you about your ancestors' social status and economic status.
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Military Service by Bear
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