French names that start with 'B'
When we pronounce a name that begins with 'b,' our upper and lower lips meet, as if simulating a gentle kiss. This articulation with both lips is the reason why, in phonetics, the letter 'b' is classified as a bilabial consonant.
Because of this kiss-like movement of the lips with each utterance, French names that begin with the letter 'b' have an added touch of cuteness.
French girl names that start with B
Plenty of elegant and sophisticated French girl’s names start with the letter ‘B’, for instance, Bérengère, Bénédicte, Brigitte, Bérénice, and Béatrice.
- Brigitte: Brigitte is a French name with Celtic origins. The corresponding English name is Bridget. Well-known French individuals with this name include Brigitte Bardot, the famous actress and animal rights activist, as well as Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron.
- Béatrice: The name Béatrice resonates with happiness. Its resemblance to “béatitude” —a literary French term that translates to “bliss”— is no coincidence; both originate from the Latin term “beatus”, meaning “happy” and “blessed”.
This name appears in literature, within Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, where Beatrice is a character symbolizing divine love who guides the poet through the celestial spheres of Heaven.
- Bernadette: In French, Bernadette is the feminine form of the male name Bernard. Bernadette Chirac, the wife of former French president Jacques Chirac is a famous person with this name.
- Berthe: Berthe is a French name that has the same Germanic root as the English name Bertha. A famous person with this name is Berthe Morisot, a French Impressionist painter from the 19th century.
- Blanche: Blanche is a French female name that has the same spelling as the French word “blanche”, the feminine form of the adjective “blanc” which means “white”.
- Bénédicte: Bénédicte is a French girl’s name that shares the same Latin origin as the boy’s name Benoît. Both are derived from the Latin word “benedictus” which means “blessed”.
- Blandine: The smooth and soothing sound of the name Blandine aligns perfectly with its origin: the Latin term “blandus” which means “pleasant” and “smooth”.
- Bérénice: Bérénice is a sophisticated and elegant French girl’s name that appears in Litterature. It serves as both the title and the name of the main protagonist in Jean Racine's 17th-century play “Bérénice”.
- Bérengère: Bérengère is a traditional and sophisticated French female name. It is the feminine form of the male name Bérenger.
- Brune: Brune is a rare French female name. It has the same spelling as the French word “brune” which refers to a woman with brown hair (a brunette).
- Bertille: Bertille is a rare French girl’s name. It is the feminine form of the male name Bertil.
- Baptistine: In France, Baptistine is a far less common name than its male version, Baptiste.
- Benoîte: Benoîte a female form of the male name Benoît. Both these names are derived from the Latin word “benedictus” which means “blessed”. However, the female form of this name is very rare compared to its male form.
- Bernardine: Bernardine is the feminine form of the male name Bernardin. Both these names are rarely encountered.
French boy’s names that start with B
In France, there are only a handful of frequently encountered French boy’s names that start with the letter ‘b’:
- Benoît: Benoît is a boy’s name that is distinctively French. It features a circumflex on the letter ‘i’. In French, that mark is generally used to indicate a letter ‘s’ that was deleted and is no longer pronounced.
- Baptiste: In France, Baptiste is a name that is frequently encountered both on its own and within the compound name Jean-Baptiste.
- Bastien: Bastien is a French boy's name, formed by removing the initial syllable from Sébastien. This name appears in one of Mozart’s lesser-known works, the comic opera titled “Bastien und Bastienne”.
- Bertrand: Bertrand —the French form of the Germanic name Bertram— is a name that has been used in France for centuries. In French medieval history, for instance, there was a prominent Breton knight named Bertrand du Guesclin. More recently, another well-known person with this name is Bertrand Delanoë who was mayor of Paris.
- Bernard: Bernard is a French male name derived from the Germanic name Bernhard. It is also a very common surname in France. It is also a common first name in the U.S. and U.K. because it entered the English language following the 11th-century Norman Conquest of England.
Below are some less frequently encountered French boy’s names that begin with the letter ‘b’
- Basile
- Barthélémy
- Brieuc
- Baptistin
- Bérenger
- Blaise
- Briac
- Barnabé
- Bertin
- Bertil
French last names that start with B
Below is a list of some of the most common French surnames that begin with the letter ‘b’. It is interesting to note that several of these are related to professions or occupations, for example, Boulanger (Baker), Barbier (Barber), Berger (Shepherd), Boucher (Butcher).
- Bernard
- Bertrand
- Boyer
- Bonnet
- Blanc
- Barbier
- Blanchard
- Brunet
- Brun
- Bourgeois
- Benoit
- Bertin
- Berger
- Boucher
- Baron
- Boulanger
- Bouvier
- Bailly
- Breton
- Benard
- Barre
- Besson
- Briand
- Besnard
- Bouchet
- Barbe
- Blondel
- Barthelemy
- Buisson
- Begue
- Berthelot
- Blanchet
- Bodin
- Baudry
- Blin
- Bonneau
- Bourdon
- Bruneau
- Brunel
- Bousquet
- Bazin
- Bonnin
- Blot
- Bernier
- Bouvet
- Boutin
- Bellanger