Boy names that start with B
B is a letter of blessings and bears. Benjamin has held a place in the American top 20 for a generation, while Bjorn still sounds like it stepped off a longship. Everything below links to a full entry with pronunciation, origin, and meaning.
Most popular B names right now
Four B names sit inside the current U.S. Social Security top 100. Ranks below are their exact positions.
- #11BenjaminBEN-juh-minHebrew
Son of the right hand — the favoured side. Jacob's youngest son, and the only B name never far from the American top ten.
- #40BennettBEN-itEnglish
Blessed. The medieval English form of Benedict, worn smooth by five centuries of use and now the fastest-moving B name of the lot.
- #60BeauBOHFrench
Handsome; fine. One syllable, no consonant cluster, and a Southern warmth that has carried it a long way north.
- #64BrooksBROOKSEnglish
Of the brook — the family that lived by the stream. A surname name with an unhurried, well-tailored sound.
Classic B names
Saints, kings and apostles. These have centuries behind them, and every one shortens well.
- BenedictBEN-uh-diktLatin
Blessed; literally, well spoken of. Benedict of Nursia wrote the rule that shaped Western monasticism.
- BernardBUR-nardGermanic
Bear-hardy — brave as a bear. Bernard of Clairvaux gave his name to an Alpine pass and, eventually, to a very large dog.
- Bartholomewbar-THOL-uh-myooAramaic via Greek
Son of Talmai — a patronymic rather than a description. One of the twelve apostles; Bart and Tolly both work.
- BarnabyBAR-nuh-beeEnglish
Son of encouragement. The English vernacular form of Barnabas, and one of the friendliest four-syllable names going.
- BasilBAZ-il · BAY-zuhlGreek
Kingly, royal, from Greek basileus. Basil the Great was one of the great theologians of the fourth century.
- BoazBOH-azHebrew
Traditionally glossed as swiftness, or as "in him is strength". The landowner who marries Ruth, and an ancestor of David.
- BrianBRY-unIrish
Traditionally read as high or noble, though the derivation is genuinely unsettled. Brian Boru was High King of Ireland when he died at Clontarf in 1014.
- BrendanBREN-danIrish
Prince, by the traditional gloss. Brendan the Navigator is the saint who supposedly sailed west and found an island.
- BrunoBROO-nohGermanic
Brown. Short, blunt and equally at home in Italy, Germany and Brazil.
- ByronBY-runEnglish
At the cattle sheds — a plain place name attached to a wildly unplain poet.
Unique B names
All of these are outside the current U.S. top 100, and most are rare enough that your son will be the only one.
- BjornBYURNNorse
Bear. A staple across Scandinavia and, thanks to Björn Borg, instantly recognisable in English.
- BalderBAHL-derNorse
Traditionally glossed as "the bold one", though some read it simply as "lord". In myth, the shining son of Odin.
- BrageBRAH-guhNorse
Poetry; the poet's art. Bragi was the Norse god of verse — a rare name with a made-for-a-writer meaning.
- BowenBOH-unWelsh
Son of Owain, from Welsh ab Owain. It reads as a surname name in America and as plain patronymics in Wales.
- BooneBOONEnglish
Good, from an Old French nickname that became a surname. Daniel Boone did the rest.
- BramBRAMDutch
Father of a multitude, by way of Abraham. Common in the Netherlands, still startling in the U.S. — and Dracula's author was born Abraham Stoker.
- BaxterBAK-stuhrEnglish
Baker — an occupational surname rather than an ancient given name. The -ster ending was originally the feminine one.
- BoBOHDanish and Swedish
One who dwells; the settled one. Two letters, and a complete name in Scandinavia rather than a nickname.
- BirkBEERKDanish
Birch tree. A crisp one-syllable nature name that has barely been touched in English-speaking countries.
- BélaBAY-lawHungarian
A royal Hungarian name whose etymology has never been settled. Four kings carried it, and so did the composer Béla Bartók.
B names from around the world
The letter travels well. These are everyday names in Lagos, Nairobi, Tehran, Hanoi and Kyiv, and rare in the U.S.
- Babatundebah-bah-TOON-dehYoruba
Father has returned again. Traditionally given to a boy born after his grandfather's death; Tunde is the everyday short form.
- Bakaribah-KAH-reeSwahili
The Swahili form of Arabic Bakr, whose root carries the sense of first and early.
- Bonganibon-GAH-neeZulu
Give thanks; be thankful. A grammatical imperative used as a name, which is ordinary in Zulu and lovely in English.
- Berhanuber-HAH-nooAmharic
His light — understood as God's. One of the warmest names in the Ethiopian repertoire.
- Bilalbih-LAHLArabic
Moisture; water that refreshes. Bilal ibn Rabah, freed from slavery, became the first muezzin of Islam.
- Bijanbee-ZHAHNPersian
Hero. The young champion of the Bijan and Manijeh romance in the Shahnameh.
- BaoBOW, as in take a bowVietnamese
Treasure, something precious — written 寶 in traditional characters, 宝 in simplified.
- Bayanibah-YAH-neeTagalog
Hero. A plain Filipino word carrying a great deal of national weight.
- BoutrosBOOT-rossCoptic
Rock — the Coptic and Arabic form of Peter. Boutros Boutros-Ghali led the United Nations in the 1990s.
- Bohdanbohh-DAHNUkrainian
Given by God. Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the seventeenth-century hetman, keeps it firmly Ukrainian.
- Barışbah-RUSHTurkish
Peace. The Turkish noun itself, given as a name with no adaptation at all.
- Beniciobeh-NEE-see-ohSpanish
No word meaning — it comes from the family name of Saint Philip Benizi. Benicio del Toro made it travel.