Head to head · Boys' names
Beau vs Bennett
#60 vs #40 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Bennett is a whisker ahead (#40 vs #60 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Bennett leads 6 measures of 6; Beau leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Beau —, Bennett #538 — Bennett higher
- 1890s: Beau —, Bennett #635 — Bennett higher
- 1900s: Beau —, Bennett #628 — Bennett higher
- 1910s: Beau —, Bennett #612 — Bennett higher
- 1920s: Beau —, Bennett #629 — Bennett higher
- 1930s: Beau #3776, Bennett #613 — Bennett higher
- 1940s: Beau #3108, Bennett #597 — Bennett higher
- 1950s: Beau #2323, Bennett #547 — Bennett higher
- 1960s: Beau #1195, Bennett #620 — Bennett higher
- 1970s: Beau #494, Bennett #948 — Beau higher
- 1980s: Beau #308, Bennett #730 — Beau higher
- 1990s: Beau #415, Bennett #608 — Beau higher
- 2000s: Beau #437, Bennett #399 — Bennett higher
- 2010s: Beau #237, Bennett #173 — Bennett higher
- 2020s: Beau #84, Bennett #75 — Bennett higher
Bennett stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Bennett has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Beau | Bennett |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #538 |
| 1890s | — | #635 |
| 1900s | — | #628 |
| 1910s | — | #612 |
| 1920s | — | #629 |
| 1930s | #3776 | #613 |
| 1940s | #3108 | #597 |
| 1950s | #2323 | #547 |
| 1960s | #1195 | #620 |
| 1970s | #494 | #948 |
| 1980s | #308 | #730 |
| 1990s | #415 | #608 |
| 2000s | #437 | #399 |
| 2010s | #237 | #173 |
| 2020s | #84 | #75 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Beau
- Canada#50
Bennett
- Canada#41
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Beau
Handsome, beautiful (French)
bellus → bel → beau → Beau
How it traveled
The root is Latin bellus, "pretty, fine," which became bel and beau in Old French. English took the word in during the late seventeenth century to describe a fashionable man, and later a woman's suitor — a sense that survives in older novels and in the plural, beaux.
Bennett
Blessed
From Latin benedictus, literally 'well spoken of' — bene ('well') plus dictus ('spoken').
Benedictus → Benedict → Bennet → Bennett
How it traveled
The root is Benedictus, the Latin name borne by Benedict of Nursia, the sixth-century monk whose rule shaped monastic life across Western Europe. Carried into England by the church, the name was worn down in ordinary speech to Bennet, and by the Middle Ages that spoken form had settled into a hereditary surname — Bennett, Bennet, Benett — recorded across English parish registers for generations.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Beau
BOH
Rhymes with go. It sounds exactly like the bow of bow and arrow, and like the name Bo, so the spelling usually has to be given aloud.
- Bo — A separate spelling of the same sound, used informally for a Beau and also given on its own as a full name.
- Beauregard — Runs the other way: the longer American name that Beau has historically served as the short form of, now rarely used itself.
Bennett
BEN-it
Stress on the first syllable. The second syllable is light — closer to 'it' than 'ett'. Rarely misheard, though people who know the surname sometimes reach for the single-t spelling.
- Ben — The default short form, and a long-established given name in its own right for boys.
- Benny — Informal and affectionate; more often used at home than on paper.
- Bennie — An older spelling of the same short form, still seen among earlier generations.
- Bee — An occasional family nickname drawn from the first letter rather than the full form.
Who has carried each name
Beau
Beau Bridges (b. 1941) — Emmy-collecting actor of a famous acting family
Bennett
No documented entry for Bennett yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Beau if you want…
- a name fewer children share#60 in 2025 — beau will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with fewer syllablesBeau is 1 syllable to Bennett's 2
- a newer arrivalBeau entered the US charts in 1932
Choose Bennett if you want…
- a name most people already know#40 in 2025, 6,268 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 61 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itBennett runs 2 syllables, Beau 1
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Ben, Benny and Bennie
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Beau
Strengths
- One syllable and one pronunciation — anyone who hears it can say it back correctly.
- The spelling is already familiar to English speakers from the word itself and from beaux, so it reads on paper without instruction.
- Needs no nickname and takes none: it works unchanged from a nursery door to a business card.
To consider
- In English, beau still carries its older sense of a sweetheart or suitor. Most people never think of it; a few will remark on it.
- Because Beau and Bo sound identical, expect a lifetime of spelling it out over the phone and on forms.
- The name is climbing quickly. A Beau born now will likely be the only one in his class, but may meet several others by adulthood.
Bennett
Strengths
- The spelling is already known to almost everyone through the surname, so it is written correctly far more often than most surname-names.
- Ben is a ready-made short form with centuries of use behind it, giving the name a shorter register without inventing one.
- One pronunciation, two clear syllables, no silent letters — it survives phone calls and roll call intact.
To consider
- It is climbing quickly. A child born now may find the name feels considerably more common by the time they are in middle school than it does at the hospital.
- Bennet with one t is the Austen spelling, and Bennette turns up too. Expect an occasional correction, though the two-t form is the one most people default to.
- Given to girls only rarely at this spelling. A girl named Bennett will often be assumed male on paperwork before she is met — workable, but worth deciding you are comfortable with.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Beau and Bennett in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Beau and Bennett?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- all guides
Every list here names both Beau and Bennett — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Beau or Bennett — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Beau or Bennett?
- Bennett, in 2025: Bennett ranked #40 with 6,268 babies; Beau ranked #60 with 5,165 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Beau or Bennett?
- Bennett. Over the last five years Beau moved up 49 places; Bennett moved up 61 places.
- Which is the older name, Beau or Bennett?
- Beau entered the US charts in 1932; Bennett was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Bennett is the older name.
- How many people are named Beau and Bennett?
- About 64,000 people named Beau are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 67,500 people named Bennett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Beaus or Bennetts in the classroom?
- Beau will almost certainly be the only one in school. Bennett will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Beau, Bennett and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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