This list includes 35 Literary girl names that start with B, from “Babette” to “Brunhild”. They range from classic and mythic to modern invented names, useful for parents, writers, and literary fans.

Literary girl names that start with B are female names that originate in literature, myth, poetry, or author invention. For example, “Babette” appears in Isak Dinesen’s “Babette’s Feast”, linking name and cultural tradition.

Below you’ll find the table with Name, Origin, Pronunciation, and Meaning.

Name: The literary name itself, shown so you can quickly scan for favorites and recognize alternate forms.

Origin: Shows author, work, and original language so you understand the name’s literary source and cultural background.

Pronunciation: Simple phonetic respelling helps you say the name aloud, useful for reading, casting, and baby conversations.

Meaning: Brief etymology or literary significance gives context and inspiration when you evaluate names for meaning.

Literary girl names that start with B

NamePronunciationOriginMeaning
BeatriceBEE-uh-trisDante, Vita Nuova / Divine Comedy — ItalianBlessed one; spiritual guide
BellaBEL-uhMeyer, Twilight — EnglishShort for Isabella; “beautiful”
BiancaBEE-AN-kahShakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew / Othello — EnglishWhite, fair
Berenicebeh-REN-issPoe, “Berenice” — EnglishGreek origin; “bringer of victory” variant
Briseisbri-SEE-issHomer, Iliad — Ancient GreekCaptured woman; concubine
Bathshebabath-SHEE-buhHebrew Bible, 2 Samuel — Hebrew (also Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd — English)Daughter of an oath
BrionyBRY-oh-neeMcEwan, Atonement — EnglishFrom the bryony plant; “sprouting”
BeckyBEK-eeThackeray, Vanity Fair — EnglishDiminutive of Rebecca; “to bind” (biblical root)
Bellatrixbel-LA-triksRowling, Harry Potter series — EnglishLatin: “female warrior”
BlancheBLANCHWilliams, A Streetcar Named Desire — EnglishFrench: “white, pale”
Belindabuh-LIN-duhPope, The Rape of the Lock — EnglishPossibly “beautiful”: poetic heroine
BelleBELBeaumont (Leprince de Beaumont), Beauty and the Beast — FrenchFrench: “beautiful”
BessBESSHeyward, Porgy (novel) — EnglishDiminutive of Elizabeth; “oath”
BiddyBID-eeDickens, Great Expectations — EnglishDiminutive of Bridget; “strong, domestic”
BabetteBAH-BETBlixen (Isak Dinesen), “Babette’s Feast” — DanishDiminutive of Barbara; associated with hospitality
Berniceber-NISS-eeFitzgerald, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” — EnglishVariant of Berenice; “bringer of victory”
BetsyBET-seeDickens, David Copperfield (Betsy Trotwood) — EnglishDiminutive of Elizabeth; “pledged to God”
BranwenBRAN-wenMabinogion — WelshBlessed raven or “raven-born”
BrunhildBRUN-hildPoetic Edda / Völsunga saga — Old NorseArmored battle-maid
BrigidBREE-jidIrish myth / later poetry (e.g., Yeats) — Old IrishExalted one; goddess of hearth and poetry
BerylBEH-rilDoyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles — EnglishGemstone name; “precious stone”
BridgetBRIH-jitFielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary — EnglishFrom Brigid; “exalted one”
Belphoebebel-FOE-beeSpenser, The Faerie Queene — EnglishBeautiful Phoebe; poetic invention
BritomartBRIT-oh-martSpenser, The Faerie Queene — EnglishStrong female knight; martial virtue
BoadiceaBOH-uh-DIH-see-uhTacitus, Annals (historical account) — Latin (revived in Tennyson poems — English)Celtic queen; symbol of rebellion
Bellonabeh-LOH-nuhOvid / Roman poetry — LatinRoman war goddess; “warlike”
Brangainebran-GAYNMedieval Tristan and Iseult legends — Old FrenchLoyal handmaid; “helper”
BaucisBAW-sisOvid, Metamorphoses — LatinHumble, hospitable wife in myth
BridaBREE-dahCoelho, Brida — PortuguesePossibly Celtic-rooted; “seeker of wisdom”
BilqisBIL-keesQur’an / Islamic tradition (Queen of Sheba) — ArabicName of the Queen of Sheba in Islamic texts
BiaBEE-uhHesiod, Theogony — Ancient GreekPersonification of force; “might”
BerthaBER-thaBrontë, Jane Eyre — EnglishOld German: “bright” or “famous”
BeulahBYOO-luhBunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress — EnglishHebrew-origin: “married”; allegorical land
BethBETHAlcott, Little Women — EnglishDiminutive of Elizabeth; “pledged to God”
BoannBOH-annIrish myth (stories of the Boyne) — Old IrishRiver goddess; “cow of the Boyne”

Descriptions

Beatrice
Dante’s idealized beloved and guide in the Divine Comedy (central muse); later reused by Shakespeare as a witty heroine.
Bella
Bella Swan is the protagonist of Meyer’s Twilight novels; modern bestseller name tied to contemporary romance culture.
Bianca
Appears in Shakespeare (minor sister roles); a classical-sounding name used for gentle or contrastive characters on stage.
Berenice
Title figure in Poe’s gothic short story; the name evokes antiquity and tragic, obsessive themes.
Briseis
A pivotal captive whose seizure sparks Achilles’ wrath in the Iliad; emblematic of honor and wartime possession.
Bathsheba
Biblical figure involved with King David; later Hardy’s Bathsheba Everdene is a complex Victorian heroine.
Briony
Protagonist and unreliable narrator of Atonement; name ties to youth, growth, and guilt.
Becky
Becky Sharp is Thackeray’s ambitious antiheroine, an enduring archetype of social climbing.
Bellatrix
Bellatrix Lestrange is a memorable antagonist in Rowling’s saga; name revived for its fierce, dramatic edge.
Blanche
Blanche DuBois is Tennessee Williams’ tragic heroine; name signals faded gentility and fragility.
Belinda
Pope’s mock-epic centers on Belinda as fashionable society’s emblem and satirical target.
Belle
The fairy-tale heroine of Beauty and the Beast; a simple, classic choice literally meaning “beauty.”
Bess
Bess (in Heyward’s Porgy and Bess) is a conflicted central figure in American literary and musical drama.
Biddy
Biddy is the kind, practical friend in Great Expectations who offers Pip moral steadiness.
Babette
Title character in Blixen’s story; her feast becomes a parable about art, gratitude, and grace.
Bernice
Fitzgerald’s short story follows Bernice’s social change; the name suggests early-20th-century femininity and transformation.
Betsy
Betsy Trotwood is David Copperfield’s eccentric, protective aunt; the name feels sturdy and Victorian.
Branwen
Branwen is the tragic heroine of a central Welsh branch of the Mabinogion; a mythic, sorrowful royal figure.
Brunhild
Brunhild (Brynhild) is a legendary Valkyrie-queen in Norse saga, later reimagined in medieval romances and Wagner’s operas.
Brigid
Brigid is a major Irish goddess appearing across myth and literature as a symbol of fire, craft, and inspiration.
Beryl
Beryl Stapleton is a pivotal and ambiguous figure in Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novel; the name suggests rare beauty.
Bridget
Bridget Jones is the comic-modern heroine of Fielding’s novels, giving the name a contemporary, relatable persona.
Belphoebe
Belphoebe is Spenser’s idealized chaste warrior-maiden, an Elizabethan poetic creation blending classical myth.
Britomart
Britomart is Spenser’s crusading female knight-protagonist embodying chastity and valor in epic romance.
Boadicea
Boadicea/Boudica is the British queen who rose against Rome; Victorian poets made her a nationalist icon.
Bellona
Bellona appears in classical Latin literature as the goddess of war and is used later to evoke martial power.
Brangaine
Brangaine is the faithful handmaid of Iseult in Tristan legend, often pivotal in plot and fidelity themes.
Baucis
Baucis is the kindly wife rewarded by the gods in Ovid’s tale; an archetype of modest piety and hospitality.
Brida
Title protagonist of Paulo Coelho’s novel, Brida is a young woman on a mystical journey of self-discovery.
Bilqis
Bilqis (Bilquis) appears in Qur’anic and later literature as the wise, regal Queen of Sheba—diplomatic and majestic.
Bia
Bia is a minor but vivid personified deity of force in Greek myth, appearing among divine allegorical figures.
Bertha
Bertha Mason is the infamous “madwoman in the attic” in Jane Eyre; her name carries gothic and feminist interpretive weight.
Beulah
Beulah Land is an allegorical resting-place in Pilgrim’s Progress; the name suggests peaceful, spiritual haven.
Beth
Beth March is the gentle, selfless sister in Little Women; the name evokes domestic kindness and early American girlhood.
Boann
Boann is the goddess associated with the River Boyne in Irish myth and later poetry, linked to fertility and landscape lore.
If you think there is a missing term, let us know using the contact form.