Five weeks after the birth of their first child, Liam Payne and Cheryl have finally revealed the little boy’s name – and in typical celebrity fashion, it’s not one you’ll find at the top of a Common Baby Names list. At least, not yet.
The couple chose to name him Bear after settling on it a few days ago. The little’un will only take the One Direction star’s surname, so he will be known as Bear Payne, MailOnline reported. Bear, which means strong and brave, may be an unusual choice, but Cheryl and Liam are far from the first celebrity couple to plump for the name.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Alicia Silverstone has a son with husband Christopher Jarecki named Bear Blu, who was born in 2011, and Jamie and Jools Oliver have a five-year-old son named Buddy Bear.
Kate Winslet’s three-year-old son with Ned Rocknroll is called Bear Blaze, a choice she explained on Ellen in 2014, saying: “A friend of mine when I was younger was nicknamed Bear, and I just had always really loved it. He was very much a bear. He was everyone’s shoulder to cry on, he was a big bear hug, he was just this great figure in my life, and I just always remembered him.”
Howard Donald from Take That (remember him?) also has a son named Dougie Bear, who was born in February. But perhaps the most famous Bear, at least in the UK, is explorer Bear Grylls.
While Bear is just the 218th most popular on the baby naming site Nameberry this year, and can only be found in the top 900 in England, the name could be in the ascendant, according to baby name trend forecasters. Nameberry says “it’s part of a current trend normalising once aggressive animal names like Wolf and Fox.”
A spokesperson for pregnancy and baby site Babycenter also hinted that the name could provoke a surge in animal-themed baby names. “Celebrities' baby name choices constantly influence the rise (and sometimes fall) in popularity and Bear is a popular name, with Kate Winslet calling her son Bear Blaze, Jamie Oliver’s boy Buddy Bear and Alicia Silverstone choosing Bear Blu,” they told The Sun.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
“It will be interesting to see later in the year if the name rises in popularity. We have seen parents being increasingly creative with their naming choices and more animal names being registered,” added the spokesperson.
Other popular animal-themed names on Babycenter’s list include:
Bunny
Kitty
Raven
Wren
Bear
Fox
Birdie
Wolf
Colt
Hawk
Animal
Kitty
Raven
Wren
Bear
Fox
Birdie
Wolf
Colt
Hawk
Animal
Other celebrities who have followed the craze for animal-inspired names include Nicole Richie and Joel Madden, who have a son named Sparrow; Zooey Deschanel and Jacob Pechenik, who named their daughter Elsie Otter because they "both love otters"; and Busy Philipps, whose daughters are named Birdie and Cricket.
The appeal of these names could be attributed to the nod they give to nature and the fact that "they embody the characteristics of each creature," according to Babycenter. "Bears are strong; lions are brave; owls are wise; eagles are free. All the kinds of things that most parents would wish for their little ones."
But if you're not quite ready to embrace the trend, there are a whole host of names that give a more subtle shout-out to nature. For instance, Orson (meaning "bear cub" in Latin), Vanessa (meaning "butterfly), and Jonah (meaning "dove"). N'aww.