| Saint Bede the Venerable (673–735), English historian and theologian |
| William Bedell (1571–1642), Anglican divine |
| Earls and Dukes of Bedford |
| Ethel Bedford Fenwick (1857–1947), British nurse |
| William Bedloe (1650–1680), English informer |
| Alphonso de la Cueva, Marquis of Bedmar (1572–1655), Spanish diplomatist |
| Thomas Beecham (1879–1961), English musical conductor |
| Catharine Esther Beecher (1800–1878), American teacher and writer |
| Charles Beecher (1815–1900), American minister |
| Charles Emerson Beecher (1856–1904), American palæontologist |
| Edward Beecher (1803–1895), American theologian |
| Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887), American preacher and reformer |
| Lyman Beecher (1775–1863), American clergyman |
| Sir William Beechey (1753–1839), English portrait-painter |
| Henry Charles Beeching (1859–1919), English clergyman and author |
| Max Beerbohm (1872–1956), English writer and caricaturist |
| Fanny Mary Bernard-Beere (1856–1915), English actress |
| Henry Augustin Beers (1847–1926), American literary writer |
| Edward Spencer Beesly (1831–1915), English historian and positivist |
| Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), German musical composer |
| Nicolaas Beets (1814–1903), Dutch poet |
| Louis-Abel Beffroy de Reigny (1757–1811), French dramatist and man of letters |
| Carl Joseph Begas (1794–1854), German historical painter |
| Reinhold Begas (1831–1911), German sculptor |
| Martin Behaim (1459?–1507), navigator and geographer of great pretensions |
| Behā ud-Dīn (1145–1234), Arabian writer and statesman |
| Behā ud-Dīn Zuhair (1186–1258), Arabian poet |
| Aphra Behn (1640–1689), British dramatist and novelist |
| Wilhelm Joseph Behr (1775–1851), German publicist and writer |
| Sir George Thomas Beilby (1850–1924), British physicist |
| Alfred Beit (1853–1906), British South African financier |
| Béjart, name of several French actors |
| Antony Bek (c. 1240–1311), Bishop of Durham |
| Charles Tilstone Beke (1800–1874), English traveller, geographer and biblical critic |
| Balthasar Bekker (1634–1698), Dutch divine |
| Immanuel Bekker (1785–1871), German philologist and critic |
| Béla III. (d. 1196), King of Hungary |
| Béla IV. (1206–1270), King of Hungary |
| David Belasco (1853–1931), American playwright and manager |
| Sir Edward Belcher (1799–1877), British naval officer |
| John Belcher (1841–1913), English architect |
| John Hamilton, Baron Belhaven and Stenton (1656–1708), Scottish politician |
| Belisarius (c. 505–565), one of the most famous generals of the later Roman empire |
| Alexandre Beljame (1843?–1906), French writer |
| Jeremy Belknap (1744–1798), American author and clergyman |
| William Worth Belknap (1829–1890), American soldier and politician |
| Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), American inventor and physicist |
| Alexander Melville Bell (1819–1905), American educationalist |
| Andrew Bell (1753–1832), British divine and educationalist |
| Sir Charles Bell (1774–1842), Scottish anatomist |
| Charles Fredric Moberly Bell (1847–1911), British journalist |
| George Joseph Bell (1770–1843), Scottish jurist |
| Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868–1926), English traveller and geographer |
| Henry Bell (1767–1830), Scottish engineer |
| Henry Glassford Bell (1803–1874), Scottish lawyer and man of letters |
| Jacob Bell (1810–1859), British pharmaceutical chemist |
| John Bell (1691–1780), Scottish traveller |
| John Bell (1763–1820), Scottish anatomist and surgeon |
| John Bell (1797–1869), American political leader |
| Robert Bell (1800–1867), Irish man of letters |
| Edward Bellamy (1850–1898), American author and social reformer |
| George Anne Bellamy (1727?–1788), English actress |
| Joseph Bellamy (1719–1790), American theologian |
| Saint Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmine (1542–1621), Italian Cardinal and theologian |
| Remy Belleau (c. 1527–1577), French poet, and member of the Pléiade |
| Bellecour (1725–1778), French actor |
| Bellegarde, name of an important French family |
| Heinrich Joseph Johannes, Count von Bellegarde (1756–1845), Austrian soldier and statesman |
| Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Duc de Belle-Isle (1684–1761), French soldier and statesman |
| John Bellenden (fl. 1533–1587), Scottish writer |
| William Bellenden (d. 1633?), Scottish classical scholar |
| Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791–1863), Italian poet |
| Sir Edward Bellingham (d. 1549), Lord Deputy of Ireland |
| Bellini, name of a family of craftsmen in Venice |
| Lorenzo Bellini (1643–1704), Italian physician and anatomist |
| Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835), operatic composer of the Italian school |
| Carl Michael Bellman (1740–1795), Swedish poet |
| Andrés Bello (1781–1865), South American poet and scholar |
| Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), British man of letters |
| Albert Fitch Bellows (1829–1883), American landscape-painter |
| Henry Whitney Bellows (1814–1882), American clergyman |
| Dormont de Belloy (1727–1775), French dramatist |
| Claude Victor-Perrin, Duke of Bellune (1764–1841), Marshal of France |
| August Belmont (1813–1890), American banker and financier |
| Pierre Belon (c. 1517–1564), French naturalist |
| Adolphe Belot (1829–1890), French novelist and dramatist |
| Thomas Belsham (1750–1829), English Unitarian minister |
| Belshazzar (Sixth Century B.C.), Babylonian general |
| Thomas Belt (1832–1878), English geologist and naturalist |
| Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778–1823), Italian explorer of Egyptian antiquities |
| Józef Bem (1794–1850), Polish soldier |
| Herman Bemberg (1859–1931), French musical composer |
| Pietro Bembo (1470–1547), Italian Cardinal and scholar |
| Edward Webster Bemis (1860–1930), American economist |
| Charles Bémont (1848–1939), French scholar |
| John Benbow (1653?–1702), English admiral |
| Henry Bence-Jones (1814–1873), English physician and chemist |
| Count Alexander Konstantinovich Benckendorff (1849–1917), Russian diplomat |
| Benda, name of a family of German musicians |
| Karel Bendl (1838–1897), Bohemian composer |
| Ludwig, Ritter von Benedek (1804–1881), Austrian general |
| Vincent, Comte Benedetti (1817–1900), French diplomatist |
| Benedict, name taken by fifteen of the popes |
| Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–c. 544), Patriarch of Western monks |
| Sir Julius Benedict (1804–1885), musical composer |
| Saint Benedict Biscop (628–690), English churchman |
| Benedictus Abbas (d. 1194), Abbot of Peterborough |
| Roderich Benedix (1811–1873), German dramatist and librettist |
| Friedrich Eduard Beneke (1798–1854), German psychologist |
| Etheldred Benett (1776–1845), one of the earliest of English women geologists |
| Anthony Benezet (1713–1784), philanthropist |
| Theodor Benfey (1809–1881), German philologist |
| Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687–1752), Lutheran divine and scholar |
| Benjamin, a tribe of Israel |
| Benjamin of Tudela (Twelfth Century), Jewish rabbi |
| Judah Phillip Benjamin (1811–1884), Anglo-American lawyer |
| Park Benjamin (1809–1864), poet and journalist |
| Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin (1837–1914), author |
| José Benlliure y Gil (1855–1937), Spanish painter |
| Edward Benlowes (1603?–1676), English poet |
| John Bennet (fl. 1599–1614), one of the finest English madrigalists |
| Arnold Bennett (1867–1931), English novelist and playwright |
| Charles Edwin Bennett (1858–1921), American classical scholar |
| James Gordon Bennett (1795–1872), American journalist |
| James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (1841–1918), American publisher |
| John Hughes Bennett (1812–1875), English physician and pathologist |
| Joseph Bennett (1831–1911), music critic and journalist |
| Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816–1875), English musical composer |
| Levin August, Count von Bennigsen (1745–1826), Russian general |
| Rudolf von Bennigsen (1824–1902), German politician |
| Benno (1010–1106), Bishop of Meissen |
| Peter Benoit (1834–1901), Flemish composer |
| Benoît d’Alignan (d. 1268), Benedictine abbot |
| Benoît de Sainte-More (1154–1189), French trouvère |
| Isaac de Benserade (1613–1691), French poet |
| Robert Bensley (fl. Eighteenth Century), English actor |
| Arthur Christopher Benson (1862–1925), English man of letters |
| Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940), English novelist |
| Edward White Benson (1829–1896), Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Egbert Benson (1746–1833), American jurist |
| Sir Francis Robert Benson (1858–1939), English actor |
| Frank Weston Benson (1862–1951), American painter |
| George Benson (1699–1762), English dissenting minister |
| Robert Hugh Benson (1871–1914), English Catholic priest and writer |
| James Theodore Bent (1852–1897), English traveller |
| George Bentham (1800–1884), English botanist |
| Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), English philosopher and jurist |
| Lord George Bentinck (1802–1848), British politician |
| William Henry Cavendish, Lord Bentinck (1774–1839), Governor-general of India |
| Giovanni Bentivoglio (1443–1508), tyrant of Bologna |
| Guido Bentivoglio (1577–1644), Italian Cardinal, statesman and historian |
| John Francis Bentley (1839–1902), English architect |
| Richard Bentley (1662–1742), English scholar and critic |
| Richard Bentley (1794–1871), British publisher |
| Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858), American statesman |
| Th. Bentzon (Thérèse Blanc) (1840–1907), French gentlewoman of letters |
| Maurice Augustus de Benyowsky (1746–1786), Hungarian adventurer |
| Ödön Beöthy (1796–1854), Hungarian deputy and orator |
| Jean Bérain (1640–1711), Belgian draughtsman and designer, painter and engraver of ornament |
| Pierre Jean de Béranger (1780–1857), French song-writer |
| Frédéric Bérard (1789–1828), French physician and philosopher |
| Gonzalo de Berceo (c. 1180–c. 1246), earliest Castilian poet whose name is known to us |
| Nicolaas Berchem (1620–1683), Dutch painter |
| Count Leopold Berchtold (1863–1942), Austro-Hungarian statesman |
| Berekhiah Naḳdan (Twelfth–Thirteen Century), Jewish fabulist |
| Berengar (c. 1000–1088), medieval theologian |
| Alphonse-Marie-Marcellin-Thomas Bérenger (1785–1866), French lawyer and politician |
| Berenice, name of five Egyptian and two Jewish princesses |
| Charles William de la Poer, Baron Beresford (1846–1919), British admiral |
| John Beresford (1738–1805), Irish statesman |
| William Carr, Viscount Beresford (1768–1854), British general and Portuguese marshal |
| Alexander Beresford Hope (1820–1887), English statesman and author |
| Abel Bergaigne (1838–1888), French orientalist |
| Philippe Berger (1846–1912), French orientalist |
| Émile Bergerat (1845–1923), French poet and art critic |
| Henry Bergh (1813–1888), philanthropist |
| Heinrich Berghaus (1797–1884), geographer |
| Hermann Berghaus (1828–1890), German cartographer of ability |
| Theodor Bergk (1812–1881), German philologist |
| Stephan Bergler (1680–1738?), German classical scholar |
| Torbern Bergman (1735–1784), Swedish chemist and naturalist |
| Bergognone (fl. 1481–1523?), Italian painter of the Milanese school |
| Vilhelm Bergsøe (1835–1911), Danish writer |
| Henri Bergson (1859–1941), French philosopher |
| Charles Auguste de Bériot (1802–1870), Belgian violinist and composer |
| Jean Philibert Berjeau (1809–1891), French writer and book-collector |
| Berkeley, name of an ancient English family |
| George Berkeley (1685–1753), Irish Bishop and philosopher |
| Miles Joseph Berkeley (1803–1889), English botanist |
| Sir William Berkeley (1605–1677), British colonial governor in America |
| Götz von Berlichingen (1480–1562), German knight |
| Isaiah Berlin (1725–1799), eminent rabbi of Breslau |
| Harriet Smithson Berlioz (1800–1854), Irish actress |
| Hector Berlioz (1803–1869), French musical composer |
| Saint Bernard (1090/1–1153), Abbot of Clairvaux, one of the most illustrious preachers and monks of the middle ages |
| Bernard of Chartres (1080?–1167), Scholastic philosopher |
| Charles de Bernard (1804–1850), French writer |
| Claude Bernard (1813–1878), French physiologist |
| Sir Francis Bernard (1712–1779), lawyer and colonial governor |
| Jacques Bernard (1658–1718), French theologian and publicist |
| Mountague Bernard (1820–1882), English international lawyer |
| Simon Bernard (1779–1839), French general of engineers |
| Sir Thomas Bernard (1750–1818), English social reformer |
| Saint Bernardin of Siena (1380–1444), Franciscan friar and preacher |
| Agnes Bernauer (d. 1435), wife of Albert, Duke of Bavaria-Munich |
| Jakob Bernays (1824–1881), German philologist and philosophical writer |
| Sir John Bourchier, Lord Berners (c. 1467–1533), English translator |
| Juliana Berners (b. 1388?), English writer on hawking and hunting |
| Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), celebrated general in the Thirty Years’ War |
| Friedrich von Bernhardi (1849–1930), German military leader and writer |
| Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923), French actress |
| Gottfried Bernhardy (1800–1875), German philologist and literary historian |
| Francesco Berni (1497/8–1535), Italian poet |
| François Bernier (1620–1688), French physician and traveler |
| Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), Italian artist |
| François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis (1715–1794), French Cardinal and statesman |
| Bernoulli, name of an illustrious family in the annals of science |
| Aaron David Bernstein (1812–1884), Jewish scientist, author and reformer |
| Eduard Bernstein (1850–1932), German Social-Democratic politician and writer |
| Andreas Peter, Count von Bernstorff (1735–1797), Danish statesman |
| Christian Günther, Count von Bernstorff (1769–1835), Danish and Prussian statesman and diplomatist |
| Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff (1712–1772), Danish statesman |
| Johann Heinrich, Count von Bernstorff (1862–1939), German diplomatist and politician |
| Charles Albert Berry (1852–1899), English nonconformist divine |
| Charles-Ferdinand de Bourbon, Duke of Berry (1778–1820), younger son of Charles X. of France |
| Jean de France, Duc de Berry (1340–1416), third son of John II., King of France and Bonne of Luxemburg |
| Pierre-Antoine Berryer (1790–1868), French advocate and parliamentary orator |
| Berossus, priest of Bel at Babylon |
| Vittorio Bersezio (1830–1900), Italian novelist and dramatist |
| Paul Bert (1833–1886), French physiologist and politician |
| Agostino Bertani (1812–1886), Italian revolutionist |
| Jean Bertaut (1552–1611), French poet |
| Henri Mathias Berthelot (1861–1931), French general |
| Marcellin Berthelot (1827–1907), French chemist and politician |
| Philippe Berthelot (1866–1934), French diplomat |
| Élie Berthet (1818–1891), French novelist |
| Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753–1815), Marshal of France and chief of the staff under Napoleon I. |
| Berthold von Regensburg (c. 1210–1272), greatest German preacher of the later middle ages |
| Claude-Louis Berthollet (1748–1822), French chemist |
| Edward Lyon Berthon (1813–1899), English inventor |
| Ferdinand Berthoud (1727–1807), Swiss chronometer-maker |
| Samuel Henri Berthoud (1804–1891), French author |
| Domenico Berti (1820–1897), Italian statesman and writer |
| Sir Francis Bertie (1844–1919), English diplomatist |
| Louis-Adolphe Bertillon (1821–1883), French statistician |
| Bertin, name of a family of distinction in the history of French journalism |
| Obadiah Bertinoro (c. 1450–c. 1516), Jewish commentator of the Mishnah |
| Bertold (1442–1504), Elector and Archbishop of Mainz |
| Pietro Bertolini (1859–1920), Italian statesman |
| Charles Bertram (1723–1765), English literary impostor |
| Henri-Gratien, Comte Bertrand (1773–1844), French general |
| Bertran de Born (1140?–1215), foremost of French soldier-troubadours |
| Pierre Bertrand de Colombier (1299–1361), French Cardinal and diplomatist |
| Pierre de Bérulle (1575–1629), French Cardinal and statesman |
| James Fitzjames, Duke of Berwick (1670–1734), Marshal of France, the natural son of James II. of England |
| Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779–1848), Swedish chemist |
| Annie Besant (1847–1933), English theosophist |
| Sir Walter Besant (1836–1901), English author |
| Hans Hartwig von Beseler (1850–1921), Prussian general and governor of Poland |
| Pierre-Victor, Baron de Besenval (1722–1794), French soldier |
| Bernhard von Beskow (1796–1868), Swedish dramatist and historian |
| Paul Albert Besnard (1849–1934), French painter |
| Basilius Bessarion (c. 1395–1472), one of the illustrious Greek scholars who contributed to the great revival of letters in the 15th century |
| Earls of Bessborough |
| Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784–1846), German astronomer |
| Sir Henry Bessemer (1813–1898), English engineer |
| Jean-Baptiste Bessières (1768–1813), French marshal |
| Bessus (d. 329), Satrap of Bactria and Sogdiana under Darius III. |
| William Thomas Best (1826–1897), English organist |
| Bestia, name of a family in ancient Rome |
| Alexius Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (1693–1768), Grand Chancellor of Russia |
| Mikhail Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (1688–1760), Russian diplomatist |
| Matilda Betham-Edwards (1836–1919), British author |
| Jean de Béthencourt (1360–1425), French explorer |
| Gábor Bethlen (1580–1629), Prince of Transylvania |
| Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856–1921), Chancellor of the German Empire |
| Béthune |
| Conon de Béthune (fl. 1180–1220), French trouvère of Arras |
| Thomas Betterton (1635?–1710), English actor |
| Saverio Bettinelli (1718–1808), Italian Jesuit and man of letters |
| William Henry West Betty (1791–1874), English actor |
| François Sulpice Beudant (1787–1850), French mineralogist and geologist |
| Jacques Claude, Count Beugnot (1761–1835), French politician |
| Charles-Ernest Beulé (1826–1874), French archæologist and politician |
| Pierre de Ruel, Marquis de Beurnonville (1752–1821), French general |
| Friedrich Ferdinand, Graf von Beust (1809–1886), Austrian statesman |
| William Roxby Beverley (c. 1814–1889), English artist and scene-painter |
| Thomas Bewick (1753–1828), English wood-engraver |
| Christiaan Frederik Beyers (1869–1914), South African general |
| Heinrich Ernst von Beyrich (1815–1896), German geologist |
| Willibald Beyschlag (1823–1900), German Protestant divine |
| Aleksander Andreevich Bezborodko (1747–1799), Grand Chancellor of Russia |
| Théodore de Bèze (1519–1605), French theologian |
| Adalbert Bezzenberger (1851–1922), philologist |
| Bhartrihari (c. 450–510), name of a celebrated Indian writer of apothegms |
| Sir Mancherjee Merwanjee Bhownaggree (1851–1933), Indian parliamentarian |
| Francesco Bianchini (1662–1729), Italian astronomer and antiquary |
| Giorgio Biandrata (1515–1588), Italian physician and polemic |
| Lucien Biart (1828–1897), French author |
| Bias (fl. c. 570 B.C.), one of the Seven Sages of Greece |
| Marcus Furius Bibaculus (b. 103 B.C.), Roman poet |
| Michel Bibaud (1782–1857), Canadian historian |
| Heinrich Biber (1644–1704), German violinist and composer |
| Bibulus, a surname of the Roman gens Calpurnia |
| Xavier Bichat (1771–1802), French anatomist and physiologist |
| Isaac Bickerstaff (1735–1812?), English dramatist |
| Edward Henry Bickersteth (1825–1906), Bishop of Exeter and poet |
| George Parker Bidder (1806–1878), English engineer |
| Clement Biddle (1740–1814), “Quaker soldier” |
| James Biddle (1783–1848), American naval officer |
| John Biddle (1615–1662), frequently called the father of English Unitarianism |
| Nicholas Biddle (1750–1778), American naval officer |
| Nicholas Biddle (1786–1844), American financier |
| John Bidwell (1819–1900), American statesman |
| Karl Biedermann (1812–1901), German publicist and historian |
| Gabriel Biel (c. 1425–1495), Scholastic philosopher |
| Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville (1680–1767), Governor of Louisiana |
| Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902), American landscape painter |
| John Bigelow (1817–1911), American journalist and diplomat |
| Joseph Gillis Biggar (1828–1890), Irish politician |
| Jérôme Bignon (1589–1656), French lawyer |
| Louis-Pierre-Édouard, Baron Bignon (1771–1841), French diplomatist and historian |
| Hugh Bigod (d. 1177), Earl of Norfolk |
| John Jeremiah Bigsby (1792–1881), English geologist and physician |
| Bihārī-Lāl (1595–1663), name famous in Hindustani literature as the author of the Sat-saī |
| Sir Ganga Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Bikaner (1880–1943), Indian soldier and statesman |
| Willem Bilderdijk (1756–1831), Dutch poet |
| Georg Bernhard Bilfinger (1693–1750), German philosopher, mathematician and statesman |
| Billaud-Varenne (1756–1819), French revolutionist |
| Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–1885), American humorist |
| Elizabeth Billington (1768–1818), British opera-singer |
| Theodor Billroth (1829–1894), Viennese surgeon |
| Thomas Bilney (c. 1495–1531), English martyr |
| Thomas Bilson (1546/7–1616), English prelate |
| Henry Bilson-Legge (1708–1764), English statesman |
| Gilles Binchois (c. 1400–1460), musical composer |
| Joseph Bingham (1668–1723), English scholar and divine |
| Amos Binney (1803–1847), American naturalist |
| Edward William Binney (1812–1881), English geologist |
| Horace Binney (1780–1875), American lawyer |
| Thomas Binney (1798–1874), English Congregationalist divine |
| Laurence Binyon (1869–1943), English poet |
| Bion of Smyrna (fl. c. 100 B.C.), Greek bucolic poet |
| Bion (fl. Third Century B.C.), Greek moralist and philosopher |
| Jean-Baptiste Biot (1774–1862), French physicist |
| Samuel Birch (1813–1885), English Egyptologist and antiquary |
| Thomas Birch (1705–1766), English historian |
| Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer (1800–1868), German actress and dramatic writer
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