Liam Payne and Cheryl welcomed their son Bear in 2017, with the former couple having spoken about the inspiration behind his name and keeping him out of the spotlight in the past

The late Liam Payne and his ex-partner Cheryl both previously shared the inspiration behind their son’s name.

Liam – who passed away, aged 31, last month – and Cheryl, now 41, welcomed their son Bear, now seven, back in 2017. The pair, who announced their separation the following year, have both spoken about their son over the years.

It’s included discussing the inspiration for his “unique” name. Cheryl revealed on RuPaul’s What’s The Tee podcast in 2019 that she didn’t initially settle on a name following his birth. She went on to share that the name came from a midwife who had given the newborn the monikor in hospital.

She said: “When I was in the hospital, he used to make these noises. We had specialists coming in to see what was going on with his breathing like … quite cute but, yeah, worrisome. Nothing wrong [though], just him. The midwife would come in every day and go ‘how’s the little bear?’ […] I didn’t have the name prior…

Cheryl added: “I couldn’t get the nickname Bear out of my mind. We toyed with other one but I didn’t want him to be the third such and such in his class. I wanted him to have a unique name.”

Cheryl and Liam Payne on the red carpet of the BRIT Awards 2018.
Cheryl (left) and the late Liam Payne (right) welcomed their son Bear in 2017 ( 
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Getty Images)

Cheryl and her son Bear.
The former couple have spoken about him over the years, including discussing the inspiration for his name ( 
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INSTAGRAM)
Liam confirmed the inspiration during an appearance on the Late Late Show with James Corden in 2017. He shared that “one of the midwives said it” and recalled the newborn making noises following the birth. Liam said a doctor informed him that there was “nothing wrong” but that Bear just liked to “make a lot of noise”. Liam added: “And that’s carried on ever since, so he just became Bear.”

Liam told Total Access earlier that year: “It was like an internal battle. I wanted a more traditional name and [Cheryl] wanted a name that was more unusual. And the reason she chose Bear in the end was because Bear is a name that when you leave a room, you won’t forget. And I like that.”

Liam and Cheryl both also spoke about keeping Bear out of the spotlight despite his parentage. Cheryl told British Vogue last year that she wants her son to have “a normal childhood.” She said: “I don’t want people recognising him on the street. But he’s twigged that I’m famous. The other day he said ‘how lucky am I to have famous parents?’ I said ‘it doesn’t matter.’ He goes: ‘yeah. But it’s pretty cool’.”

Liam said the Diary Of A CEO podcast in 2021: “Obviously, we protected his identity to start off with and that’s not being pretentious or anything other than the fact that I want to give him a chance to be Bear first before he has to be ‘oh, your mum and dad are so and so,’ y’know. And I made my choice to be where I was at 14 [or] 15, so I figure he can make his own choice then too.”