Browse Names - Behind the Name

Adalbern m Germanic
Derived from the Old German elements adal "noble" and bern "bear".

Alfbern m Germanic
Derived from the Old German elements alb "elf" and bern "bear".

Ásbjǫrn m Old Norse
Old Norse name derived from the elements áss "god" and bjǫrn "bear". It is therefore a cognate of Osborn.

Berard m Germanic
Variant of Bernard using the related root bero "bear" as the first element. This was the name of a 13th-century saint from Carbio, Italy who was martyred in Morocco.

Berengar m Germanic
Old German name derived from the elements bern "bear" and ger "spear". This was the name of two medieval kings of Italy and a Holy Roman emperor.

Bernard m English, French, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, Slovene, Czech, Germanic
Derived from the Old German element bern "bear" combined with hart "hard, firm, brave, hardy". The Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Beornheard. This was the name of several saints, including Saint Bernard of Menthon who built hospices in the Swiss Alps in the 10th century, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th-century theologian and Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include the Irish playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), the British World War II field marshal Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976) and the French cyclist Bernard Hinault (1954-).

Bjarni m Old Norse, Icelandic, Faroese
Old Norse diminutive of Bjǫrn and other names containing the element bjǫrn meaning "bear".

Hallbjǫrn m Old Norse
Derived from the Old Norse elements hallr "rock" and bjǫrn "bear".

Humbert m French, German (Rare), English (Rare), Germanic
Derived from the Old German elements hun "bear cub" and beraht "bright". The Normans introduced this name to England, though it has always been uncommon there. It was the name of a 7th-century Frankish saint who founded Maroilles Abbey. It was also borne by two kings of Italy (called Umberto in Italian), who ruled in the 19th and 20th centuries. A notable fictional bearer is Humbert Humbert from Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita (1955).

Hunbeorht m Anglo-Saxon
From the Old English elements hun "bear cub" and beorht "bright", making it a cognate of Humbert. This name was borne by a 9th-century English saint.

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