The name "Berlin" is thought to have its roots from the German Baer, which quite obviously means "bear," and is the central design on the shield of the German city of Berlin. The Berlin surname has many variations, such as Ber, Berl, Berline, Berliner, Berlinger (Milton Berle's real last name), and Berlinsky.

Berlin is probably most recognized as the name for the German city, which is now again the Capital. The imperial crest of the Berlin city state is shown at the right while an Egyptian cartouche spelling out the Berlin name is to the left. There are also at least 12 U.S. cities with the name "Berlin" and its variations, such as New Berlin, NY and East Berlin, PA. Looking in the dictionary finds "berlin" to be (1) a four-wheeled closed carriage with a footman's platform behind, separate from the body, and (2) a fine soft wool yarn, sometimes called Berlin wool. Even with my questionable musical talent, alas I am no relation to the composer Irving Berlin (whose name was actually Israel Baline).