Explore the Family Name Bears

The meaning of Bears

1. English (mainly Lancashire): variant of Beers. 2. Possibly an altered form of Dutch Beers or the German cognate Behrs.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Bears in the United States?

According to data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Bears has seen a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname Bears was ranked 33,605 in terms of popularity and by 2010, its rank had declined to 40,204, marking a change of -19.64%. The count of people with the surname Bears also decreased from 640 in 2000 to 545 in 2010, a reduction of -14.84%. Accordingly, the proportion of people with the surname Bears per 100k decreased by -25% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#33,605	#40,204	-19.64%
Count	640	545	-14.84%
Proportion per 100k	0.24	0.18	-25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Bears

In terms of ethnicity as outlined in the Decennial U.S. Census, there were no significant changes observed for the surname Bears between 2000 and 2010 for those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native. However, some shifts were noted in other ethnic identities. The percentage of people with the surname Bears who identified as White decreased from 84.69% in 2000 to 81.83% in 2010, a change of -3.38%. The proportion of Hispanic individuals increased from 3.13% to 4.59%, a substantial increase of 46.65%. Similarly, those who identified as Black saw an increase from 8.75% to 11.19% over the same period, a rise of 27.89%. Lastly, a new category emerged in 2010 for those identifying as more than one race, recording a proportion of 1.65%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	84.69%	81.83%	-3.38%
Black	8.75%	11.19%	27.89%
Hispanic	3.13%	4.59%	46.65%
Two or More Races	0%	1.65%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.88%	0%	0%