pet-form of certain Christian names, as Edward, Edmund, Theodore. attrib. in Teddy bear, a stuffed figure of a bear, made of rough plush, used as a toy or as a kind of mascot.
The ‘teddy bear’ came into vogue about 1907, and was so called in humorous allusion to Theodore Roosevelt (President of U.S. 1901–1909).
1907. Philistine, XXIV. Jan., 64. The best piece of advertising ever invented by our Honored President was the Teddy Bear.
1907. Daily Chron., 13 Sept., 4/7. While Europe is sending aloft the … ‘diabolo,’ America is playing with bears…. The sudden delight in these mere things of the toy-shop … is due to their name—‘Teddy-bears.’
1907. Motor Boat, 19 Sept., 190/1. The boat with a Teddy bear or golliwog on the bow.
1908. Daily Chron., 5 Nov., 7/1. The Teddy bear, popularly so-called because the retiring President of the United States has a reputation as a bear hunter.
