Belle
2025 SSA
About Belle
Belle has nothing but positive associations, from "belle of the ball" to "Southern belle" to the heroine of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As if this weren't enough good things, Belle is also one of the most familiar and usable names that mean beautiful. Though it has been overshadowed by the Twilight-influenced Bella and longer forms like Isabella and Annabella, Belle has its own Southern charm and would make a pretty choice as a first or middle name.
Belle was a Top 100 name in the 1880s, but left the list in 1934. It returned to the US Top 1000 for the first time in 80 years in 2016, only to drop off again in 2021. Its most famous bearer was the legendary Western outlaw, Belle Starr (born Myra); Belle Watling is a character in Gone With the Wind.
Read more about Belle and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.
Pronounced BEL.
As of October 2026, Belle ranked #1013 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #90 in 1880, Nameberry popularity #612.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,033 | 251 | 140.5 |
| 2015 | #1,050 | 251 | 140.6 |
| 2016 | #935 | 293 | 165.3 |
| 2017 | #806 | 339 | 196.4 |
| 2018 | #870 | 312 | 183.4 |
| 2019 | #873 | 307 | 182.9 |
| 2020 | #1,000 | 255 | 157.7 |
| 2021 | #1,051 | 240 | 146.3 |
| 2022 | #970 | 274 | 167.1 |
| 2023 | #1,012 | 250 | 155.8 |
| 2024 | #1,005 | 254 | 156.8 |
| 2025 | #1,013 | 247 | 153.7 |
World rankings
Similar names
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Belle on lists
Famous Belles
- Belle Bennett
American actress
- Belle Baker (born Bella Becker)
American singer and actress
- Camilla Belle (Routh)
American actress
- Belle Brezing
American madam; possible inspiration for Belle Watling in "Gone with the Wind"
- Belle Miriam Silverman
birth name of Beverly Sills, American operatic soprano
- Belle Chrystall
English actress
- Belle Cole
American operatic contralto
- Belle Kinney Scholz
American sculptor
- Belle Mitchell
American actress
- Belle Moskowitz
American political adviser
- Belle Reynolds
American Civil War heroine
- Belle Gunness (born Brynhild Paulsdatter)
Norwegian,American serial killer
- Belle Goldschlager Baranceanu
American painter
- Belle Jennings Benchley
American zoologist
- Belle Baldwin (b. 2011)
daughter of TV presenter Holly Willoughby and Dan Baldwin
- Belle Elizabeth Piper (b. 2014)
daughter of model/philanthropist Katie Piper
- Belle Scarlett Holtby (b. 2014)
daughter of ice hockey player Braden Holtby
Belle in pop culture
- Belle
main character in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"
- Belle Watling
character in Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind"
- Belle Moffat
character in Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women"
- Belle
character in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"
- Belle Black
character in American soap opera "Days of our Lives"
- Belle Dingle
character on British soap "Emmerdale"
- Belle Taylor
character on Australian soap opera "Home and Away"
- Belle Fisher
character in "A woman called Fancy" by Frank Yerby
- Belle the Sleeping Car
character in musical "Starlight Express"
- Belle
character in "Belle et Sébastien," children's novel by Cécile Aubry
- Belle
one of Snoopy's siblings from the comic strip Peanuts
- Belle and Sebastian
Scottish indie pop band
- Wild Belle
American indie pop band
- Belle Rain Water
character in "My Heart Is on the Ground" in the "Dear America" book series
- Symbian Belle
mobile operating system
- Belle French
a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time
- Belle Donner
alias of Yolanda Yewbeam, character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
- Belle Rayburn
character in Netflix's "Bloodline"
- Sweetie Belle
character in "My Little Pony" series