From Dr. Stephen Jones;

....I find it interesting that Ursa Major (big bear) and Ursa Minor (little bear) are the better-known names of the constellations, but that their names were originally the Greater Sheepfold and the Lesser Sheepfold. They were not bears at all, but became bears by usurping the position of those truly called. This usurpation is part of the picture that reveals another side to this whole issue. On June 20 we discussed and dealt with "the usurpers."

The two constellations are in the sign of Cancer--not the disease, but from the Latin word Cancer. That Latin word is in turn derived from the Arabic Khan = "an Inn," and Ker or Cer = "encircling." It describes a sheepfold that encircles the sheep for their protection while they rest.

The various stars in Cancer also describe sheepfolds. The brightest star in Ursa Minor is Dubeh, "a herd." In Arabic, Dubah means "cattle." In Hebrew, Dober means "a fold" and is derived from the word dobe, "rest or security."

But here is where the confusion and mistake arises, because the Hebrew word for "bear" is dob. So instead of seeing the constellation as a sheepfold, they ended up picturing it as a bear, because of the similarity of the Hebrew words. This was all in the divine plan, of course, but nonetheless, the original meaning and significance in the Star Gospel was hidden by this usurpation. God allowed this to occur in order to show us what was happening on a prophetic and spiritual level--with the two bears of Revelation 13 usurping power over the Church (the Greater or larger Sheepfold) and the Remnant Overcomers (the Lesser or smaller Sheepfold)....

From [link to gkmnetsite.godskingdom.org]