Rare ‘B’ Baby Names for Boys in 2016

Here is my list of interesting rare ‘B’ names for boys! You can read the girls’ list here. All these were real baby names in the U.S. last year, according to data from the Social Security Administration. Remember, just because a name isn’t popular doesn’t mean nobody’s using it! 

When I say a name is ‘interesting,’ I don’t mean that it’s good or bad; merely, that it caught my eye. I’m far more likely to endorse a name than denounce it, but there are a few names in this list that I think are rather heinous. If you read all the way to the bottom of the list, you’ll find my commentary.

• 150-202 usage range: Bishop, Bastian, Bear, Barry, Beck, Bilal, Brenton, Bernard, Boaz, Baker, Broderick, Benedict, Bjorn
• 100-149: Brogan, Baron, Bowie, Banks, Bronx, Benaiah, Brighton, Brigham, Bailey, Britton
• 50-99: Boyd, Barron, Braulio, Brant, Benito, Branch, Bane, Bram, Bradford, Basil, Baxter, Booker, Burke, Bradlee, Braven
• 25-49: Boris, Banner, Baruch, Bauer, Bowman, Beauregard, Brenner, Boe, Bill, Buck, Brando, Bladen, Breccan, Bowden, Bashir, Braddock, Brewer, Britain, Blade, Brave, Bladimir, Buddy, Boubacar, Bakari, Becker, Bruin, Burton
• 15-24: Bosco, Blessing, Blue, Bogdan, Banyan, Brazos, Berl, Bernie, Bray, Barack, Boy, Bao, Bravery, Buckley, Bartholomew, Barton, Bless, Bora, Brockton, Bannon, Baraka, Barrington, Bohannon, Bryn, Benuel
• 10-14: Baden, Bader, Bentzion, Bert, Boss, Baldemar, Balian, Barnabas, Bingham, Bob, Boyce, Bran, Breyer, Brick, Buster, Baylon, Bento, Biruk, Bolton, Bond, Boomer, Bow, Battal, Behruz, Benigno, Bertrand, Birch, Blessed, Bowe, Breaker, Brigg, Balthazar, Baxley, Beaumont, Bernabe, Berry, Betzalel, Bexton, Bijan, Bretton, Brighten, Briton, Bud, Burhan
• 5-9: Basel, Bhargav, Bhavik, Borja, Boyan, Bryshere, Bach, Bates, Bay, Benoit, Benz, Beowulf, Bhuvan, Bonham, Brazen, Breeze, Brink, Babyboy, Balin, Bankston, Barney, Barren, Basilio, Bautista, Benning, Beorn, Bolin, Bonifacio, Boyer, Bright, Baldwin, Balraj, Barnaby, Bartolo, Bashar, Bela, Benno, Bertram, Biagio, Biel, Bocephus, Brahms, Breton, Browning, Burns, Baby, Badi, Baird, Barclay, Barnes, Bart, Bb, Beasley, Bernardino, Bezaleel, Bhavesh, Blanton, Bomani, Brace, Brand, Bravo, Brockman, Brolin, Bromley, Buchanan, Buford, Burley, Burnell, Butch

Comments:

• I would like to point out the terrible irony of naming a baby “Barren.”
• Who else saw a horror flick called The Boy last year? 6 boys were named Brahms in 2016, probably because of that movie. In The Boy, an American woman moves to England to be the nanny/governess for a boy named Brahms, whom she discovers is actually a very creepy doll. Another possibility is that the rise of a similar rare name, Brahm, gave Brahms a boost.*
  
• Speaking of composers, Bach returned to the data in 2016. Composers!
  
• I wonder if any of the boys named Bond have James for a middle name. Somehow, “Bond – Bond James” doesn’t sound as effective as “Bond – James Bond.”
• As a name writer, two things I try to avoid are politics (not that kind of blog) and name-bashing. That said; parents, stop naming your kids Bannon! I shouldn’t even have to explain that racists are terrible namesakes.

What do you think? Do you have any other strong associations with some of these names? Let me know in the comments!  

*For the record, I don’t think Brahms, Brahm, Bach, and Bond are necessarily bad baby names, but they evoked strong mental images. Brahms is probably an obscure reference, anyway.