Beau
Masculine · “Handsome”
Beau is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 65,592 boys against 1,011 girls since 1880. See Beau as a girl name
Beau is the French word for handsome, borrowed into English so long ago that it now sits comfortably as a name in its own right. One syllable, ending on a round open vowel, it is the kind of name that arrives complete — nothing to shorten, nothing to explain once heard. It has been used in America for generations, first as a nickname pinned on well-dressed men, later as a name given at birth.
How old is the name Beau?
Beau first appears in US birth records in 1932 — 93 years ago. The typical Beau is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 64,000 people named Beau are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Beau most popular?
Beau peaked in 2025, reaching #60 nationally. Today it ranks #60, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From bellus to Beau
The story of Beau
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. From there it became a nickname for particular men, most famously George Bryan "Beau" Brummell, the Regency figure who set English standards of dress. In the American South it also served as a short form of the surname-turned-first-name Beauregard, and it is from that everyday American use that Beau settled into place as a given name on its own.
Meaning
Handsome, beautiful (French)
Cultural footprint
Beau Bridges (b. 1941) — Emmy-collecting actor of a famous acting family
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- bellus
- bel
- beau
- Beau
Related forms: Beau · Beau · Beauregard · Bo
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Beau
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1932
- Most boys named
- 20255,165 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #60reached in 2025
- Change vs 2023
- +26.0%5,165 in 2025, from 4,100
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Beau in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Beau in French — same name
- Beau in Dutch — same name
- Beauregard in English — related form
- Bo in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Ohio. International figures from Statistics Canada. Sources
Beaus among us
people named Beau are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 331 born in 2025 was named Beau
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Nathaniel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Beau's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nathaniel climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nathaniel's path sketches the road Beau is walking now.
Beau is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Beau is headed
Beau looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 18% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Beau beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Beau in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Used in Canada as well as the United States, and readable at sight in French-speaking countries.
- 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.
- In the Netherlands, Beau is given mostly to girls — worth knowing if your family or travel takes you there, though it makes no difference to American records.
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What they receive
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Beau
Masculine · #60 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Beaus are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 64,000 people named Beau are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Beau in 2025?
- Beau ranks #60 among US boy names in 2025, with 5,165 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Beau?
- About 1 in every 331 US boys born in 2025 was named Beau — 5,165 in all.
- Will my child share the name Beau with classmates?
- Beau will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Beau
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rowan#59 · Ezekiel#61 · Aiden#62 · Caleb#58 · Isaiah#57 · Nathan#63 · Waylon#56 · Brooks#64
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Beau? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Beau and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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