Italian Names that Start With B

Beatrice is back. Stored in the attic for almost a century, the lovely Beatrice with its long literary (Shakespeare, Dante) and royal history is being looked at with fresh eyes by parents seeking a classic name with character and lots of upbeat nicknames, like Bea and Bee.

Bianca, the livelier Italian and Shakespearean version of Blanche, has been chosen by many American parents since the 1990s, just as Blanca is a favorite in the Spanish-speaking community. Its meaning of white relates to snow, making it one of the prime names for winter babies.

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.

Sweet and sparky but maybe a little bit stuck in the 90s, Bria is a nickname-y style choice with various origins.

Although Disney's cute deer was a male, Bambi has always been used for girls. It first appeared on the charts in 1943, the year after the Disney movie was released. Bambi featured in the Top 1000 from 1954-1964 — a decade where girl names ending in I, like Lori and Teri, were big — and again from 1977-1982.

Also, unfortunately, better known as a chocolate syrup. Borden and Bosco could play well together.

Musical term with a lot of energy.

A Beretta is a gun, so named because of the Italian firearms manufacturer that makes it. And now Beretta is also a badass baby name, used in the middle for daughter Breeze by Bristol Palin baby daddy Levi Johnston. What a Tripp.

Possibility for a dark-haired babe.

Derived from Italian bello "beautiful" and vedere "view", Belvedere is a dramatic name that was used for a cartoon hound dog in George Webster Crenshaw's comic strip by the same name, which ran from 1962 to 1995.

Screen legend Marlon's surname has loads more swagger than his first. But little Brando will forever have to endure jokes connected with the actor.

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

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

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.

Bello is as handsome as Bella is beautiful, but rarely heard outside the Italian community. With its energetic 'o' ending, it could be ripe for export.

Surprising relative of the French saints' name Blaise, which is definitely easier on the English ear than vowelsome Italian version. Also spelled BIAGIO.

Not the most obvious animal for a nature name, but perhaps for fans of Mr Toad of Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows.Some may find the pronunciation too close to "baggage" for comfort.

Though Beatrice has the lovely Italian pronunciation bay-uh-TREE-chay, Bice has the problematic BEE-chay -- a bit too close to a word that would cause playground probs in the US. Italian cross-country skier Bice Vanzetta won two bronze medals at the Winter Olympics of 1992 and 2994.