Middles

Azure is a colorful gender-neutral choice, currently used equally for baby girls and boys in the US. It refers to a specific shade of blue seen in a cloudless sky. Elon Musk recently revealed Azure to be the name of his daughter with Shivon Zilis, twin sister to Strider. While X and Y didn't stand a chance at greater popularity, parents may be inspired to use the name Azure following this celebrity endorsement.

This evocative name of one of the Three Wise Men of the Orient, also spelled Balthasar, may finally be ready for prime time. Balthazar, Melchior and Caspar were the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus, though their names were not mentioned in the Bible.

Bea is a former old lady name that's cute again as a short form -- and is now beginning to stand on its own. Bee is a variation that, like Bea, can work as a diminutive for any name that starts with the letter B, or in the middle. Bea actually stood alone on the popularity lists for four years at the beginning of the twentieth century--and it could happen again.

We've seen Beatrice and Beatrix climb in popularity, along with traditional nickname Bea. And now there's Bee, giving it a buzzy nature world spin, plus a tie to popular late night TV''s Samantha Bee, not to mention Aunt Bee on the old The Andy Griffith Show TV show. Bee can theoretically be short for any girl names starting with B.

This French name meaning goddess is a possible Gallic import in the Celine mode.

Belisario is romantic, dashing, but perhaps a bit too elaborate. You might consider Belisario a masculine twist on the popular Belle names for girls.

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.

A felicitous combo of two sweet names; also a Queens, New York neighborhood.

Benjamin is a biblical name that has enjoyed widespread favor for decades, ranking in the US Top 50 for almost half a century and the Top 10 from 2015 until 2023.

In Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, the friend who persuades Romeo to go to the party where he meets Juliet. Alas.

Pronounced a la Bette (Betty) Davis or Bette (Bet) Midler, a twentieth-century relic. Though if the equally vintage Betty comes back, Bette may be close behind.

In the Bible, Beulah is a place, not a person, applied to the land of Israel by the prophet Isaiah. The land of Beulah has sometimes been considered a reference to heaven. Beulah began to be used as a given name in England at the time of the Reformation and was used by the seventeenth century Puritans.

This Welsh surname might be an interesting alternative to the popular Evan, though that Bev beginning conjures up a fifty-five-year-old woman named Beverly.

Variant of Bevan

Blanche, which originated as a nickname for a pale blonde and then became associated with the notion of purity, was in style a century ago, ranking in the double digits until 1920. She then had to fight the stereotype of faded Southern belle, a la Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and Blanche Devereaux in TV's Golden Girls. Now all three of the Golden Girls--Blanche, Rose and Dorothy--could be ready for revival, with Blanche sounding like a stronger, simpler alternative to Bianca.

Bodhi is a Sanskrit name translated as "enlightenment" or "awakening" which relates to a Buddhist concept, wherein Bodhi is synonymous with the state of nirvana, being freed from hate, greed and ego. The Bodhi tree is a large fig tree under which the founder of Buddhism received enlightenment. Spelling variations include Bodie and Bode.