Named after the rue and boulevard de Belleville, after the old village of Belleville.
The name is a deformation of 'belle vue' (fine view): before it joined Paris in 1860, Belleville was the highest hill around the capital. The rue de Belleville was the village's main street, the boulevard its western edge. Here stood the barrière de Belleville in the city's tax wall; beyond it, the Courtille drew Parisians with untaxed wine and food.