We don't remember it being spelled Berenstein. We don't remember how it was spelled at all. We are all just making the same assumption of how it was spelled based on the fact that "stein" is a very common way to end a last name, and "stain" is not.

I remember it as Berenstein Bears too. I don't really have any theories. Maybe it's because I was younger and I remembering it wrong.

There are pictures online of it being Stein, but they could be photoshopped.

Great episode and I totally remember it being BerenSTEIN. Who the hell would spell it any other way? I've even seen people still spell it as "stein" rather than "stain" after watching that episode initially.

That said, @Znep's theory is the most logical I think. As kids especially, "stein" is a part of a name we likely heard at some point while "stain" isn't. Besides, when you think about how most people believe it's pronounced, it makes more sense. BerenSTEEN. When it comes to other names containing the word "stein", it's commonly prounced STINE. Frankenstein (except Young Frankenstein, of course) or even just Ben Stein. But at least in my mind, "stain" sounds slightly closer in pronunciation to STEEN than STINE does. So perhaps as a kid, I was simply mishearing adults when they said BerenSTAIN.

However, I did bring it up with my mom after watching that episode and she believed it was BerenSTEIN. Maybe the misreading and mispronouncing went on for so long, it truly became what the majority of us believed for a while.

His videos are great! Yeah I swear it was Stein.

There was a Berenstain Bears game?

Yeah, a few.

You know you want to play them.

I'd rather play Mega Man 2.

I'm currently showing a Red Skelton movie series at the library and I keep introducing it as Red Skeleton - because that is how I always said it as a kid. We get things like that ingrained. I've seen a lot of movies that I first watched on TV as kid when we had a b/w set and I'm shocked to discover they are actually in color. I'm not sure if either of those things will take me to an alternate reality but I'm game to keep trying!

BTW, in my memory it's always been Berenstain.

I loved Red Skelton as a kid. I remember the Christmas special he made, used to watch it every year. I think I might own a copy of it on DVD....

Bears in the Night is a fondly-remembered childhood book I had...

...that's all I got.

I remember hearing about this before. Unfortunately I won't be of much help proving or disproving this theory because I forget the way it's actually supposed to be spelled everytime this gets brought up.

I definitely remember it being spelled "Berenstain," but that it was pronounced "Berenstein." The pronunciation is most likely what is playing tricks on people's memories.