Cat Names That Start With B

This fanciful Irish extension of Bridget is known here through the wacky Amelia Bedelia books for kids -- an association your child may or may not like.

Bean is a unisex word name with a cute and quirky feel. Early reader series Ivy and Bean features a young girl named Bean, short for Bernice Blue. It has appeal as a casual nickname or middle name, but it's harder to imagine as a given name.

This name of famed philosopher, mathematician and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell becomes slightly more plausible with the French pronunciation, bare-TRAHN. Another noted bearer is French director and screenwriter Bertrand Tavernier.

Bardot joined the first and last names of other glamour girl icons such as (Jean) Harlow when David Boreanaz chose the surname of '50s French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot for his daughter. Bardot debuted in the US charts in 2022.

Binx is a popular name among black cats thanks to the character Thackery Binx in the cult classic Hocus Pocus. It makes a one-of-a-kind, spirited name for a boy. If it's too bold for the birth certificate, try Binx as a nickname for a B name like Benedict or Baxter.

We can't account for the popularity of this name, for either a boy or a girl, given the first syllable, the tacky connotations with a luxury car, and the range of other options which are more harmonious to the ear. Nonetheless, nearly 200 girls were names Bentley in the US in 2015.

You can call your baby "babe," but don't name her that.

Blu is a new (nu?) spin on an increasingly popular color name, also spelled Blue and Bleu by celebrity parents. Blu is the spelling used for one of the (male) Waldrop quintuplets, but the name is gender neutral.

A melodic choice for lullaby-lovers.

A playful and whimsical choice for a child that works as a given name or a nickname (perhaps for Beatrix).

Up-and-coming actress Beanie Feldstein is attracting attention toward her unusual — but rather cute — nickname. She was born Elizabeth Greer Feldstein but nicknamed "Elizabeanie" by her childhood nanny. It was later simplified to Beanie by her older brothers.

The original southern Good Ol' Boy.

The saintly Italian form of the saintly Latin Benedicta.

Brio is a musical term with great verve and energy, with possibilities as a first name on the heels of such choices as Cadence, Allegra, and Rio.

This Latinate form of Bernard hovered in the lower regions of the US Top 1000 from the late 1940s until 2006, possibly inspired by the character in West Side Story.

Banana is one fruity name we wouldn't recommend. Pick Plum instead. There is a Japanese novelist whose pen name is Banana Yoshimoto--birth name Mahoko.

Bamboo is a plant name that you might want to save for the zoo's name-the-panda contest. It was used for a starbaby in 2000, though, the rapper Big Boi.

Brighid is the original Gaelic form of the name of the mythological goddess of fire, poetry, and wisdom. More commonly found these days in any number of different guises: Bridget, Brigid, Brigitte et al. Whatever form it takes, Brighid is one of the most classic and enduring Irish names for girls.