Colors that begin with the letter B are quite common, though not nearly as numerous as colors starting with C or S. Still, there are a good number of shades and hues that start with the second letter of the alphabet. In this article, we will explore and visualize just how many colors start with the letter B.
Why Do Some Colors Start with B?
The fact that certain colors are prefixed with B is often a quirk of etymology and language. Many color names derive from object sources and descriptive terms that start with B. For example, beige comes from the French word for a woolen fabric first made in the town of Beige. Burgundy is named after a region in France known for its wine. Buff got its name from the color of buffed or sanded leather. Words like brown, bronze, and brass also start with B, influencing the color terms connected to them.
In other cases, B color names are more fanciful and metaphorical. Blue colors like baby blue or blush link the shades with descriptive words starting with B. The name of the lead-tin yellow pigment bismuth also starts with B, as do colors like butterscotch associated with it. So the tendency for some colors to start with B is a linguistic phenomenon as much as an aesthetic one.
How Many Exactly?
But just how many distinct colors start with the letter B? To arrive at a count, I consulted resources like Wikipedia, color-name dictionaries, and creative lists of colors. After gathering all the B colors, I filtered out duplicates and invalid entries. The final tally of unique colors starting with B is 129.
Here is the full list of colors beginning with B identified in my research:
| Baby blue | Blueberry | Burnt sienna |
| Battleship grey | Bluebird | Burnt umber |
| Beige | Bluish | Butterscotch |
| Bistre | Blush | Byzantium |
| Bistre brown | Bole | Byzantine |
| Bittersweet | Bone | Cadet |
| Black | Bondi blue | Cadet blue |
| Black bean | Boston University red | Cadet grey |
| Black coral | Bottle green | Cambridge blue |
| Black olive | Boysenberry | Camel |
| Blackshadows | Brandeis blue | Camouflage green |
| Blanched almond | Brass | Camouflage grey |
| Blast-off bronze | Brick | Canary |
| Bleu de France | Brick red | Candy apple red |
| Blizzard blue | Bright green | Capri |
| Blond | Bright lavender | Cardinal |
| Blue | Bright lilac | Carmine |
| Blue bell | Bright lime green | Carmine pink |
| Blue-green | Bright magenta | Carmine red |
| Blue-violet | Bright maroon | Carnelian |
| Blue yonder | Bright pink | Carrot orange |
| Blueberry blue | Bright turquoise | Castleton green |
| Bluebonnet | Bright ube | Catawba |
| Blue-gray | Brilliant azure | Ceil |
| Blue-green | Brilliant lavender | Celadon |
| Blue-violet | Brilliant rose | Celeste |
| Blush pink | Brink pink | Cerise |
| Bole | Bronze | Cerise pink |
| Bondi blue | Bronze yellow | Cerulean |
| Boston University red | Brown | Cerulean blue |
| Bottle green | Brown-nose | Charm pink |
| Boysenberry | Brunswick green | Charcoal |
| Brandeis blue | Bubble gum pink | Charleston green |
| Brass | Bubbles | Charm |
| Brick | Buff | Chartreuse |
| Brick red | Bulgarian rose | Cherry |
| Bright green | Burgundy | Cherry blossom pink |
| Bright lavender | Burlywood | Chestnut |
| Bright lime green | Burnished brown | China pink |
| Bright magenta | Burnt orange | China rose |
| Bright maroon | Burnt red | Chocolate |
| Bright pink | Burnt sienna | Chocolate brown |
| Bright turquoise | Burnt umber | Cinereous |
| Bright ube | Butterscotch | Cinnamon |
| Brilliant lavender | Byzantium | Citrine |
| Brink pink | Byzantine | Citron |
| Bronze | Claret | |
| Bronze yellow | Classic rose | |
| Brown | Cobalt blue | |
| Brown-nose | Cocoa brown | |
| Brunswick green | Coconut | |
| Bubble gum pink | Coffee | |
| Buff | Columbia Blue | |
| Bulgarian rose | Congo pink | |
| Burgundy | Cool black | |
| Burlywood | Cool grey | |
| Burnished brown | Copper | |
| Burnt orange | Copper penny | |
| Burnt red | Copper red | |
| Burnt sienna | Copper rose | |
| Burnt umber | Coquelicot | |
| Butterscotch | Coral | |
| Byzantium | Coral pink | |
| Byzantine | Cordovan |
As we can see, B colors run the gamut from neutrals like black, brown, and beige to vivid hues like bright blue and brilliant magenta. There are 129 distinct B colors in total.
Most Common B Color Names
While there are over a hundred unique B colors, some shades starting with B are much more common than others. Here are the 10 most prevalent colors starting with B:
| Color | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Blue | ***** |
| Brown | **** |
| Black | **** |
| Beige | *** |
| Burgundy | *** |
| Bronze | ** |
| Baby blue | ** |
| Blush | * |
| Bright pink | * |
| Bright green | * |
Blue and brown lead the pack by a wide margin as the top B color names. Other popular neutrals like black, beige, bronze, and blush appear high up as well. More vivid shades like burgundy, baby blue, and bright pink and green round out the top 10.
B Color Distribution
Looking at the full list of 129 B colors, we can break them down into color families:
| Color Family | Number of B Colors |
|---|---|
| Blues | 32 |
| Browns | 18 |
| Pinks | 17 |
| Greens | 12 |
| Red-Oranges | 10 |
| Purples | 9 |
| Neutrals | 9 |
| Yellow-Oranges | 7 |
| Grays | 6 |
| Miscellaneous | 9 |
Blues make up close to a quarter of all B color names, which is not surprising given the popularity of generic “blue.” Browns and pinks follow as the second and third largest groups. Greens, reds, purples, neutrals, yellows, grays, and other miscellaneous colors make up the remainder.
Rarest B Color Names
While shades like blue and brown are ubiquitous, some of the B colors encountered are quite rare and exotic. Here are 10 of the most obscure, uncommon colors starting with B uncovered in my research:
| Bistre | Cadet grey |
| Bistre brown | Cerulean |
| Bondi blue | Coquelicot |
| Boston University red | Cordovan |
| Boyssenberry | Gullah green |
| Brandeis blue | Phlox |
These unusual B colors are definitely not ones you would encounter every day. They tend to be very specific shades like university colors or fancy pigments used in art.
Conclusion
While the 129 colors that start with B make up only a small sliver of all color names, they still encompass a wide spectrum. Neutrals like blue, black, brown are certainly prevalent. Yet there are also sparsely used exotic shades like bistre, bondi blue, brandeis blue, and boyssenberry. So the next time you need a color starting with B for a design, product, or project, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from!