| [ 1 syll. bea(u), be-au ] The boy name Beau is pronounced BOW KEY. Beau's language of origin is French and it is predominantly used in the English language. Derived literally from the word beau meaning 'handsome, sweetheart, admirer'. The nickname was borne by the celebrated British dandies Beau Nash (born Richard Nash, 1674-1762) and Beau Brummell (born George Bryan Brummell, 1778-1840), in reference to their obsession with highly fashionable and dandyish clothes, as well as fine social etiquette. The French word 'beau' originally meant 'handsome' or 'beautiful', but in the 19th century, it also acquired the meaning 'sweetheart' or 'admirer'. As a given name, it was first used in the 20th century, given a boost in popularity by two characters so named in literature, from the hero Michael "Beau" Geste of the P. C. Wren novel Beau Geste (1924), which has been adapted for the screen several times, and more importantly, the infant Beau Wilkes in the Margaret Mitchell novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and its highly popular subsequent film (1939). The name has in recent times been made known by the US actor Beau Bridges (1941-), whose parents gave him the nickname from the character in the Margaret Mitchell novel. The name Belle is sometimes taken as the feminine form. Variants of Beau include Beal (English) and Beale (English). Other variants of Beau include the short forms Bo (English) and Boe (English). See also the related form, Belle (English and French). Beau is a rather popular baby boy name. The name's popularity rose from the 1960s up to the 1980s. At the modest peak of its usage in 1980, 0.065% of baby boys were given the name Beau. It had a ranking of #203 then. The baby name has fallen in popularity since then. In 2007, it ranked at #422 with a usage of 0.031%, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all boy names in its family. Beau was twice as popular as the subsequent ranked name, Bo (English and Scandinavian), in 2007. Baby names that sound like Beau include Bo (English and Scandinavian), Boe (English), Beppe (Italian), Bev (English), Bob (English), Boye (Dutch), Urba (Czech), Beppo (Italian), Bibi (Hebrew), Boba (Russian), Bobbi (English), Bobbie (English), Bobby (English), and Biaggio (Italian). KEY: Pronunciation for Beau: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; OW as in "oat (OW.T)"
A famous person named Beau is Actor Beau Bridges, born Lloyd Vernet Bridges III 9 December 1941, Los Angeles, California. |
