Dog Names That Start With B

The archetypal diminutive, in every sense of the word. Bitsy enjoyed some use as a nickname in the era when children were named after family members and then called by a cute pet name: Chip, Skip, Babe, Bitsy. As a full name, it has made the US list only three times: in 1943, 1958 and 1962.

Once you get past the pronunciation hurdle, a smooth and elegant choice. In French, it's spelt with a circumflex: Benoît.

Rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz put a new baby name on the map when they chose this downscale New York borough name for their son. The Bronx, the place, was named for early Dutch settler Jonas Bronck. Might Bronx become the next Brooklyn? We'd be surprised if it did.

The name of the character in Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" whom the poet intended as a representation of Queen Elizabeth I. While it will no doubt thrill your daughter's English professor, the addition of the "Bel" to already great Phoebe is on the fussy side.

This Italian form of Benedict sidesteps the Benedict Arnold association that still clouds the English version.

A word name with an appealing and illuminating meaning.

Prissy, no matter how you spell it.

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.

Baris has the advantage of sounding familiar but being rare and unusual. The peaceful meaning is another plus.

Dark.

Brayden meets Jalen to make Braylen, another entry in this trendy group of names.

One Japanese name that feels Western, though not quite American.

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.

The Spanish word for "berry" makes a deliciously intriguing word name possibility.

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.

Attached to one of the heroes of Christopher Paolini's megapopular fantasy novel Eragon, this name sounds strong yet sensitive.

Has the energetic-Irish-slightly-boyish image that many modern parents love.

When Kate Hudson named her second son Bingham and announced that she would be calling him Bing, it put this zingy nickname name out on the table. Before that, there was only one, further nicknamed Der Bingle -- and he was really Harry Lillis Crosby.

Like Benita, had some popularity in the fifties.