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Origin: |
Beau is a masculine singular French adjective meaning "handsome, fine, attractive, fair." It's feminine singular equivalent is Belle. From the late 17th century, the term beau came to refer to a fashionable young man (a dandy), and as such was given as a nickname to fashionable men of society. Later, the term beau also came to mean a male admirer, suitor or boyfriend. |
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Usage: |
Initially, Beau was used from the 17th century as a sobriquet (i.e. a nickname given to them by society by which they become known). An early example is Richard Nash (1674-1761) who was known (and is still today) as Beau Nash. A celebrated dandy of his day, Nash was a leading socialite in Bath and it is thanks to him that Bath and Tunbridge Wells became he most fashionable resorts in 18th-century England. And then there is the great Dandy himself, Beau Brummel. Born George Bryan Brummel (1778-1840), he became a hugely famous figure in Regency England for his style and taste and was the first and last word in fashion. He led the transition from breeches to tailored pantaloons (it's thanks to him that trousers are such a fashion staple) and also popularised the move away from powdered wigs to short Roman-style hair*. The name is first recorded in England and Wales in 1910 for Beau Trevor Lovern in Somerset. Before that however, the surnames Beaumont, Beaufoy, Beauclerk and Beauchamp (which is traditionally pronounced "Bee-cham" in Britain) were in use as given names from the 18th century, and all were used steadily — especially Beaumont which was especially prevalent in Huddersfield — throughout the 19th century. Beau was slow in use as an actual given name in its own right as births in England and Wales show: 1910s: 1 birth In popular culture, Beau was used as the eponymous name of P. C. Wren's 1924 adventure novel Beau Geste following upper class Englishman Michael "Beau" Geste and his brothers in the French Foreign Legion in Algeria pre-WW1. Beau was also used by Margaret Mitchell for her 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, later a 1939 blockbuster film, for the minor character Beauregard "Beau" Wilkes, the son of Ashley and Melanie Wilkes. His name was inspired by Confederate General Pierre Beauregard. From 1960-1962, Roger Moore joined the cast of television Western series Maverick as the character Beau Maverick. Then, by the 1970s, actor Beau Bridges (born Lloyd Vernet Bridges III) was making more of a name for himself in feature films as was actress Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins). Despite this, as we can see from the data above, Beau didn't began to get notable usage as a name until the 1970s. In America, too, Beau staring rising more earnestly in the 1970s, having first entered the top 1000 at #967 in 1967. By 1980, Beau peaked at #203 in the US and from this point until 2015, it remained between the #200-#500 mark.
By the late 1990s, Beau was also in use for girls in Britain. Initially this was in small numbers, having no more than ten births in any given year in England and Wales from 1996 to 2000. By 2002, however it modestly rose to #809 (30 births) and was #473 (78 births) by 2005. Beau for girls peaked at #169 (302 births) in 2012 — the same year it peaked for boys — but saw a slight decline afterwards. Then there is the spelling Bo which has also been used for both boys and girls in Britain, but has generally swayed more towards the girls. There is perhaps Bo Derek to thank in part, or the nursery rhyme Little Bo-Peep. In the Toy Story animations (1995, 1999, 2010) Bo Peep (commonly referred to as simply "Bo") features as Woody's love interest. For boys, Bo peaked at #1483 (16 births) in 2010. In 2016, Beau ranked #185 with 301 births, Bo was #1627 (15 births), Boe: #1804 (13 births), Beaux: #3478 (5 births) and Bowe: #4810 (3 births). Beau (and its spelling variations) are also often used as a second part of hyphenated names for girls. The likes of Elsie-Beau, Isla-Beau, Ivy-Beau, Daisy-Beau etc have all ranked in the official data in recent years for girls. This, in part, has also contributed to the growing use of Beau for girls. The same cannot be said for boys. No name featuring -Beau has officially ranked for boys since 1996 even though hyphenated male names are not uncommon. It is also interesting to see the regional statistics for Beau for both boys and girls:
Interestingly, for both boys and girls, Beau ranks highest in the South West followed by the South East. From then on, however, we start to see a split with some areas ranking it higher for boys, and other favouring it for girls. In Scotland, Beau is less common, ranking #304 (12 births) for girls and #406 (8 births) for boys in 2017. From 1974 it had no registrations at all until 1983 and then was used no more than 3 times in any given year for boys until 2008. From then, its use has fluctuated, peaking at #319 (11 births) in 2010. It didn't rank for girls at all until 2002, after which it began to rise, and currently supersedes the use of Beau for boys. It peaked at #254 (16 births) for girls in 2013. Further afield, Beau remains almost solely masculine in America where it ranks #156 for boys but doesn't rank in the top 1000 at all for girls. Beau also ranks for boys in top 100 in Australia (#65) and New Zealand (#46). Beau is, however, unisex in the Netherlands, ranking #196 for boys and #201 for girls in 2017. This is most likely due to the popularity of the name Bo is currently #56 for Dutch girls. |
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Famous Bearers: |
History: * Richard "Beau" Nash (1674–1762), dandy and leader of fashion in 18th-century Britain. Contemporary: * Beau Bridges (born 1941), American actor. Literature and Other Media: * Michael "Beau" Geste, protagonist of the novel Beau Geste and subsequent adaptations. |
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Variants: |
Bo, Bow, Boe, Beaux, Bowe |
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Pronunciation: |
BŌ [key] |
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Possible longer forms: |
Beauden, Beaumont, Beauregard, Bowen, Brody, Bowie, Bodhi, Boaz, Bogdan, Bosco, Robert |
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Sibling Names: |
Lyla Hazel Ada Eden Pippa Edie |
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Name Lists: |
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Thanks to June for requesting this name.
