Dog Names That Start With B

Belle has nothing but positive associations, from "belle of the ball" to "Southern belle" to the heroine of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As if this weren't enough good things, Belle is also one of the most familiar and usable names that mean beautiful. Though it has been overshadowed by the Twilight-influenced Bella and longer forms like Isabella and Annabella, Belle has its own Southern charm and would make a pretty choice as a first or middle name.

Boone is one of the advancing herd of lean and lanky cowboy names with a laid-back, backwoods, Western feel—and surprising French roots. It's inevitably linked with legendary frontiersman Daniel, and also with the positive connotations of the word boon. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2015.

Although Greek in origin--in the fourth century, a bishop by that name established the principles of the Greek Orthodox Church--Basil for years took on the aura of aquiline-nosed upper-class Britishness of Sherlock Holmes portrayer Basil Rathbone, then spiced with the fragrant aroma of the herb that entered with the Pesto generation.

The energetic Brody is a name that claims different meanings and origins depending on whether you're looking at its Irish, Scottish, or English history -- and Eastern Europeans claim a version too. An alternate spelling is Brodie.

Bode is a short and sharp name that has been on and off the US charts since the mid-2000s. Similar to on-trend choices such as Brooks, Beau, Boone, Brody, and Bodhi, Bode suffers a little, perhaps because it might be read as the word "bode" , as in "that doesn't bode well", and because it has several acceptable pronunciations.

While Ivy Blue has made the color a more popular choice for girls, Blues — as in the musical style — could feel more masculine. While some may find it a sad and gloomy choice, thanks to the phrase "having the blues", the musical connection gives it greater potential. It could make for a laid-back name that oozes cool and works as an alternative for those wanting to avoid more obvious choices like Indigo or Hendrix.

Bram has an unusual measure of character and charm for a one-syllable name; it started as a hipper-than-Abe diminutive of the biblical Abraham, but is also an independent Irish and Dutch name, made famous by Irish-born Dracula creator Bram (nee Abraham) Stoker. Bram is currently Number 16 in the Netherlands; Bram Howard was a character on The West Wing.

Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn put this name in play as a first name, but David Bowie (born with the considerably less marketable moniker of David Robert Jones) gave it charisma. He changed his surname in 1965 to avoid confusion with the then popular Davy Jones of The Monkees, borrowing it from the American hero of Alamo, Jim Bowie.

The unisex Blake, which indeed has two conflicting meanings, has a briskly efficient image when used for a girl.

Banks is a topographical surname that refers not to those places where people keep their money but to riverbanks or hillsides, and specifically the people who live and work on them. A name with two very different connotations then, Banks manages to sound smart, preppy, and upwardly-mobile, with a touch of rugged, outdoorsy charm too.

Brynn outshines the original Welsh Bryn in the popularity stakes. This simple, brisk name might be seen as a combination of Bree and Lynn, an androgynous-sounding choice that especially in this spelling is not truly unisex: Brynn, for boys, is not even in the Top 1000.

Barrett is one of many surname names that are up and coming for boys in recent years. Barrett joints Bennett, Beckett, and others in the trend of "-tt" ending boy names taking over the charts.

Parents who like Ben and Benjamin but find those forms too popular sometimes consider Benedict as a more distinctive choice. Unlike the Old Testament Benjamin, Benedict is the name of the saint who formed the Benedictine Order and of fifteen popes,including a recent one.

Bartholomew is an apostle's name that's been out of favor for centuries but might appeal again to the parent in search of an old but rare choice. The challenge could be to avoid the Simpson-ish nickname. That character, by the way, has the full name of Bartholomew JoJo Simpson, and creator Matt Groening came up with Bart as an--uh oh--anagram for brat. Two old alternate nicknames are Barty and Tolly.

Everything ella, from Ella to Bella to Arabella, is red hot right now. Bella is one of the most, well, beautiful girl names starting with B. It carried a hint of a nice Old World grandmotherly veneer, until it became attached to Twilight's Bella Swan.

It’s ok, we can talk about Bruno now!

Though it sounds so modern, Brielle is, among other things, a traditional Cajun contraction of Gabrielle, but it has now spread far beyond that community. Brielle is also the name of a historic seaport in the western Netherlands.

A popular name in Denmark, in this country Bo has some cowboy swagger and a lot of substance in its minimal two letters. In Mandarin Chinese, Bo means "wave".

Originally a form of the saint's name Blaise, though now more likely to be a hot word name used for both sexes, though heavily weighted toward the boys. It has been in the boys' Top 1000 since the year 2000.
br>On the pop culture side of things, Blaze Bayley is a singer and musician who has been connected to the bands Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden.

Who knew there were so many soccer fans in the U.S.? Beckham -- as in British sensation David -- has exploded onto the baby name scene in the past decade.