# Yogi Bear? Yogi Berra? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200 "2010-03-21T03:34:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/1 "2010-03-21T03:34:20Z")
Did the name for the cartoon bear, Yogi Bear, come from the famous ball player, Yogi Berra? Any relation? What’s the SDope on this? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/2 "2010-03-21T03:41:51Z")
According to both Wikipedia pages, Hanna-Barbera denies naming their bear after Berra. Berra’s page says his nickname came from some friends who thought he looked like a Hindu yogi from a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/3 "2010-03-21T03:48:11Z")
Hanna-Barbera may deny that the name “Yogi Bear” came from the baseball player Yogi Berra, but that sounds pretty implausible: > **[Yogi Berra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra)** > > As manager > As coach > Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–1963, 1965), all but the last for the New York Yankees. He was an 18-time All-Star and won 10 World Series championships as a player—more than any other player in MLB history. Berra had a career batting average of .285, while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 ... Anybody with a reasonable knowledge of American culture in 1958 would have recognized the name as being an obvious reference. Hanna-Barbera is just trying to avoid having to pay Yogi Berra anything. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/4 "2010-03-21T04:09:38Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Hanna-Barbera may deny that the name “Yogi Bear” came from the baseball player Yogi Berra, but that sounds pretty implausible Yeah, it’s pretty hard to swallow that they weren’t referring to Berra—Of course, I suppose if your NOT “Smarter than the average bear” then it may sound plausible… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/5 "2010-03-21T05:07:02Z")
I thought he was named after John [Logie Baird](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logie_Baird). Though I don’t know why he would be. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/6 "2010-03-21T05:18:18Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Anybody with a reasonable knowledge of American culture in 1958 would have recognized the name as being an obvious reference. Hanna-Barbera is just trying to avoid having to pay Yogi Berra anything. Why would have H-B owed Berra anything? The only thing the HOF Yankee catcher and the cartoon bear share is a similar name. Yogi Bear doesn’t play baseball and, personality-wise, is more like Art Carney’s Ed Norton. Also, Yogi Bear doesn’t share Yogi Berra’s penchant for malaprops with Zen-like qualities (e.g., “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/7 "2010-03-21T05:23:15Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Why would have H-B owed Berra anything? The only thing the HOF Yankee catcher and the cartoon bear share is a similar name. I don’t know the body of law that covers this, but arguably they are profiting from use of his likeness and might owe him something. And yes, the bear is named after the ballplayer. Anything else would be an absurd coincidence. Here’s a similar case: [Todd MacFarlane named a character after hockey player Tony Twist (GREAT NAME, by the way), and Twist sued successfully.](http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2006/06/19/daily18.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/8 "2010-03-21T05:52:08Z")
I meant to link to this Wikipedia entry: > **[Yogi Bear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Bear)** > > Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. > Yogi Bear is the first breakout character in animated television; he was created by Hanna-Barbera and was eventually more popular than ostensible star Huckleberry Hound. In January 1961, he was given his own show, The Yogi Bear Show, sponsored by Kellogg's, which included the segments S... It doesn’t really make that much sense that they would try to deny that Yogi Bear was named after Yogi Berra. There’s no way that they could have won a law suit if Yogi Berra had sued. The reference is too obvious. Their claim that there was no reference is absurd. I can only conclude that Yogi Berra decided that he didn’t care if he was the source of the name. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/9 "2010-03-21T13:35:35Z")
Pardon me for this highjack, but what about the Baby Ruth candy bar and the ball player of the oh so similar name? There’s a directly calculable profit to be derived from the sale of candy bars, so why has the estate of George Herman “Babe” Ruth not pursued royalties? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/10 "2010-03-21T14:22:03Z")
Here’s the Wikipedia entry on Baby Ruth candy bars: > **[Baby Ruth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Ruth)** > > Baby Ruth is an American candy bar made of peanuts, caramel, and milk chocolate-flavored nougat, covered in compound chocolate. Created in 1920 and named after the deceased U.S. presidential daughter, Ruth Cleveland, it is distributed by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. > In 1920, the Curtiss Candy Company refashioned its Kandy Kake into the Baby Ruth, and it became the best-selling confection in the five-cent confectionery category by the late 1920s. The bar was a staple of t... It appears that Babe Ruth (and later his estate) never tried to get anything out of the company that made the Baby Ruth candy bar (Curtiss, then Nabisco, then Nestlé) until 1995. It may be that the relevant laws weren’t used much back then. In 1995 the Ruth estate came to an agreement with Nestlé. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/11 "2010-03-21T14:29:39Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > It doesn’t really make that much sense that they would try to deny that Yogi Bear was named after Yogi Berra. There’s no way that they could have won a law suit if Yogi Berra had sued. The reference is too obvious. True, but their first step to prevent such a lawsuit would be to claim it was a coincidence (remember, they weren’t under oath when they denied it). If they actually claimed that they named the bear after Berra, it’s like saying “How much money do you want?” > [@](#): > > Their claim that there was no reference is absurd. I can only conclude that Yogi Berra decided that he didn’t care if he was the source of the name. Certainly true. Berra just didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/12 "2010-03-21T14:44:54Z")
[QUOTE=Wendall Wagner] It appears that Babe Ruth (and later his estate) never tried to get anything out of the company that made the Baby Ruth candy bar (Curtiss, then Nabisco, then Nestlé) until 1995. It may be that the relevant laws weren’t used much back then. In 1995 the Ruth estate came to an agreement with Nestlé [/QUOTE] Actually, per [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/business/worldbusiness/06iht-web.0606ruth.1900800.html?\_r=1](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/business/worldbusiness/06iht-web.0606ruth.1900800.html?_r=1), it sounds like Ruth got hosed out of a lot of money back in his own time. > [@](#): > > Babe Ruth might not be snickering about all this. > > In 1926, the George H. Ruth Candy Company sought to register with the United States Patent and Trademark Office its own trademark confection: “Ruth’s Home Run Bar” and “Babe Ruth’s Own Candy.” The commissioner of patents spurned the claim saying “Babe” was too close to “Baby,” particularly as it related to “Ruth.” > > The Court of Customs and Patent Appeals upheld the ruling in 1931, saying that there would be confusion if “Babe” and “Baby” competed for the same sweet-tooth market. The court said it was evident that Ruth (George Herman, that is) was trying to capitalize on his own nickname, at a time when sales of Baby Ruths were as high as $1 million a month. > > So while Ruth famously earned more than President Hoover, Baby Ruth did a lot better than the Babe. I can’t really think of something similarly tangible that Yogi Berra would have claimed from Yogi Bear. If the bear, besides having a similar name, was mocking him, or acting like him, then Berra is being deprived of his likeness. But, given the lack of similarities between the two, besides the name, that doesn’t sound plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yogi-bear-yogi-berra/533200/13 "2010-03-21T18:00:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Pardon me for this highjack, but what about the Baby Ruth candy bar and the ball player of the oh so similar name? There’s a directly calculable profit to be derived from the sale of candy bars, so why has the estate of George Herman “Babe” Ruth not pursued royalties? Some [info](http://www.snopes.com/business/names/babyruth.asp) on the Baby Ruth name.