This page lists 55 literary boy names that start with B, running from “Bilbo” to “Billy”. The names come from novels, plays, poems, and epics, and they range from hobbits and dwarves to Shakespearean nobles and Dickensian clerks. You can use them to name a baby, a pet, or a story character, or to find a character you half remember.

Literary boy names are given names, nicknames, or surnames borrowed from characters and authors in books, plays, and poems. Some have a long history in real life, like “Brendan,” while others, like “Bilbo,” were invented by an author and then took on a life of their own.

Below you’ll find the table with the name, origin, pronunciation, meaning, and description of each one.

Name: The name itself, listed in alphabetical order, so you can scan quickly and spot the ones that catch your eye.

Origin: The language or culture the name comes from, which helps you see where it started and how it traveled into literature.

Pronunciation: A simple phonetic guide, with the stressed syllable in capitals, so you can say each name with confidence.

Meaning: What the name originally meant, including alternate readings when the history is unclear, so you can pick a name with a story behind it.

Description: A short note on the character or author tied to the name, including the book and role, so you know where it comes from.

Literary boy names

NameOriginPronunciationMeaning
BilboEnglish (Tolkien invention)BIL-bohPossibly “sword” or a pet form of Bildad
BooEnglishBOONickname of uncertain origin; affectionate term
BoromirElvish/Sindarin (Tolkien invention)BOR-oh-meer“Steadfast jewel”
BartlebyEnglishBAR-tul-bee“Bartholomew’s farm” or “Bartholomew’s town”
BramDutch/IrishBRAM“Raven” or short form of Abraham
BrontëIrishBRON-tee“Thunder” or “bestower”
ByronEnglishBY-run“Barn” or “cowshed”
BeowulfOld EnglishBAY-oh-wulf“Bee wolf” (bear)
BenvolioItalianben-VOH-lee-oh“Good will”
BanquoGaelic/Scottish (Shakespearean)BANG-kwohPossibly “white”
BassanioItalianbah-SAH-nee-ohUncertain; possibly “low”
BenedickLatin/EnglishBEN-eh-dik“Blessed”
BottomEnglishBOT-um“Lowest part” or “valley”
BrutusLatinBROO-tus“Heavy” or “dull”
BertieEnglishBUR-tee“Bright” or “famous”
BingleyEnglishBING-lee“Woodland clearing of Binga’s people”
BennetEnglishBEN-it“Blessed”
BrandonEnglishBRAN-dun“Broom hill”
BagheeraHindibah-GEER-uh“Panther”
BalooHindiBAH-loo“Bear”
BastianGerman/GreekBAS-tee-unShort form of Sebastian, “venerable”
BaudelaireFrenchBOHD-lairSurname of uncertain meaning
BumbleEnglishBUM-bulFrom “bumblebee” or “to stumble”
BarnabyAramaic/EnglishBAR-nuh-bee“Son of consolation”
BobEnglishBOBShort form of Robert, “bright fame”
BarkisEnglishBAR-kisEnglish surname
BillEnglishBILShort form of William, “resolute protector”
BartholomewAramaicbar-THOL-uh-myoo“Son of Talmai”
BalinOld Norse (Tolkien)BAY-lin“Mighty”
BifurOld Norse (Tolkien)BEE-fur“Trembler”
BofurOld Norse (Tolkien)BOH-fur“Beaver”
BomburOld Norse (Tolkien)BOM-bur“Swollen” or “bumble”
BardOld EnglishBARD“Poet” or “singer”
BeornOld English (Tolkien)BAY-orn“Warrior” or “bear”
BombadilEnglish (Tolkien)BOM-buh-dilInvented name
BranWelsh/GaelicBRAN“Raven”
BronnOld EnglishBRON“Brown” or “spear”
BlaiseLatinBLAYZ“Lisping” or “stuttering”
BartyEnglishBAR-teeShort form of Bartholomew, “son of Talmai”
BagmanEnglishBAG-manOccupational surname
BiliusLatinBIL-ee-usFrom “bile”
BromDutchBROMShort form of Abraham
BuckAmerican EnglishBUK“Male deer”
BiggerAmerican EnglishBIG-ur“Large”
BoazHebrewBOH-az“Swiftness” or “strength”
BedeOld EnglishBEED“Prayer”
BasilGreekBAZ-ul“Royal” or “kingly”
BrerAmerican EnglishBRAIRDialect form of “brother”
BunyanEnglishBUN-yun“Little bump”
BrendanIrishBREN-dun“Prince” or “stinking hair”
BertramGermanicBUR-trum“Bright raven”
BalthazarBabylonian/GreekBAL-thuh-zar“May Baal protect the king”
BardolphGermanicBAR-dolf“Bright wolf”
BiffAmerican EnglishBIFNickname meaning “to strike”
BillyEnglishBIL-ee“Resolute protector”

Descriptions

Bilbo
Hobbit hero of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, who leaves his comfortable hole in the Shire to join a dragon-hunting quest.
Boo
Arthur “Boo” Radley is the reclusive neighbor in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, feared by children but quietly protective of them.
Boromir
Proud warrior of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings who falls to temptation but redeems himself while defending the hobbits.
Bartleby
Title character of Herman Melville’s short story, a scrivener who answers every request with “I would prefer not to.”
Bram
Best known through Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, the novel that shaped modern vampire fiction.
Brontë
Surname of the Brontë siblings, whose novels include Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, sometimes used as a given name.
Byron
Taken from Lord Byron, the Romantic poet whose life and verse made him a literary celebrity.
Beowulf
Hero of the Old English epic poem who defeats the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a dragon.
Benvolio
Romeo’s peacemaking cousin in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, who tries to avoid the feud’s violence.
Banquo
Macbeth’s friend and fellow general in Shakespeare’s play, murdered by Macbeth and returning as a ghost at the banquet.
Bassanio
Antonio’s friend in The Merchant of Venice, who borrows money to woo Portia and wins her through the casket test.
Benedick
Witty, sworn bachelor in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, who spars with Beatrice before falling for her.
Bottom
Weaver and amateur actor in A Midsummer Night’s Dream who gets turned into a donkey-headed figure. Rarely used as an actual name.
Brutus
Roman senator in Julius Caesar who joins the conspiracy against his friend out of fear for the republic.
Bertie
Bertie Wooster is the cheerful, easily-led gentleman in P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves stories, rescued from scrapes by his valet.
Bingley
Charles Bingley is the amiable, wealthy bachelor in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, who falls for Jane Bennet.
Bennet
Surname of the family at the heart of Pride and Prejudice, and sometimes used as a first name in honor of the novel.
Brandon
Colonel Brandon is the steady, honorable suitor of Marianne Dashwood in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
Bagheera
Black panther and mentor to Mowgli in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
Baloo
Easygoing, honey-loving bear who teaches Mowgli the Law of the Jungle in Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
Bastian
Bastian Balthazar Bux is the bookish boy in Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story who is drawn into the land of Fantastica.
Baudelaire
The orphaned siblings in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and also the surname of the French poet Charles Baudelaire.
Bumble
Mr. Bumble is the pompous parish beadle in Dickens’s Oliver Twist, who runs the workhouse.
Barnaby
Barnaby Rudge is the title character of Charles Dickens’s historical novel set during the Gordon Riots, accompanied by his pet raven.
Bob
Bob Cratchit is Scrooge’s underpaid, kind-hearted clerk in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
Barkis
The carrier in Dickens’s David Copperfield whose repeated message “Barkis is willin'” signals his marriage proposal to Peggotty.
Bill
Bill Sikes is the brutal burglar in Dickens’s Oliver Twist, and Bill the Lizard appears in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Bartholomew
Bartholomew Cubbins is the boy who keeps removing hats in Dr. Seuss’s The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.
Balin
One of the thirteen dwarves in The Hobbit, who later tries to reclaim Moria and is killed there.
Bifur
Dwarf of Thorin’s company in The Hobbit, who speaks mostly in the old tongue after an axe wound to the head.
Bofur
Cheerful dwarf of Thorin’s company in The Hobbit, and brother of Bifur and Bombur.
Bombur
Notably fat dwarf in The Hobbit who falls asleep after drinking from an enchanted stream in Mirkwood.
Bard
Bard the Bowman slays the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit and becomes ruler of Dale.
Beorn
Shape-changing man who lives in a large house and shelters the party in The Hobbit, and fights at the Battle of Five Armies.
Bombadil
Tom Bombadil is a mysterious, cheerful figure in The Lord of the Rings who is unaffected by the One Ring.
Bran
Bran Stark is a young Stark boy in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire who gains the power to see through animals’ eyes.
Bronn
Sellsword in A Song of Ice and Fire who serves Tyrion Lannister for gold.
Blaise
Blaise Zabini is a Slytherin classmate in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
Barty
Barty Crouch Jr. is a Death Eater in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Bagman
Ludo Bagman is the Head of Magical Games and Sports in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Bilius
Bilius Weasley is Ron’s uncle in Harry Potter, who sees a Grim and dies the following day.
Brom
Brom Bones is the practical-joking rival to Ichabod Crane in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Buck
The dog hero of Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, who is stolen from California and becomes a sled dog in the Klondike.
Bigger
Bigger Thomas is the protagonist of Richard Wright’s Native Son, a young Black man in 1930s Chicago.
Boaz
Boaz is the kind landowner who marries Ruth in the Book of Ruth, a figure often alluded to in later literature.
Bede
The Venerable Bede was an English monk and writer whose Ecclesiastical History is a pillar of early English literature.
Basil
Basil Hallward paints the portrait in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Brer
Brer Rabbit is the trickster of Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus tales.
Bunyan
John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the most widely read English religious allegories.
Brendan
Saint Brendan the Navigator is the legendary Irish voyager of the medieval Latin Navigatio, a classic of voyage literature.
Bertram
Bertram is the count in Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, who spurns his wife Helena.
Balthazar
Appears in several Shakespeare plays, including Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice.
Bardolph
Falstaff’s red-nosed companion in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Biff
Biff Loman is the eldest son in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman.
Billy
Billy Pilgrim is the time-traveling protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.
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