Beau
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Meaning
"handsome"
The story
Beau is French for handsome, and unusually for a name, it never stopped being an ordinary word in English too: for generations an American girl's beau was her sweetheart, and before that a beau was a dandy, a man dressed to be admired. As a given name it carries a distinctly Southern accent, helped along by Gone with the Wind, where Ashley Wilkes gives the name to his son. The records tell a story of slow persuasion: Beau is essentially absent before the 1940s, creeps in at midcentury, rises gently through the 1970s and 1980s, then leaps in the 2010s and reaches its highest point yet in the 2020s. Once a nickname-flavored gamble, it now reads as a complete, confident name: one syllable, one compliment, paid daily.
How popular is Beau around the world?
In the United States, 25,428 babies were named Beau between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 107 boys named Beau were registered in 2025.
Beau is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, Canada, South Australia, England and Wales, New South Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
United States
1 in 860
In the United States, 25,428 babies were named Beau between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Beau peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 540
In New Zealand, 107 boys named Beau were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 760
In Canada, 475 boys named Beau were born in 2024, the 50th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
South Australia
1 in 7702017
In South Australia, 23 boys were registered as Beau in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 1,000
In England and Wales, 487 boys named Beau were born in 2025, the 108th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
New South Wales
#25 · 2025
In New South Wales, 203 boys named Beau were registered in 2025, ranked 25th in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 1,300
In Scotland, 28 boys named Beau were registered in 2024, the 160th most common name among boys that year.
In Scotland, 8 girls named Beau were registered in 2024, the 384th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 1,400
In Ireland, 34 boys named Beau were born in 2025, the 152nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Austria
last on record 2022
Beau is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Beau
Most people given the name Beau in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Beau · Names that go with Beau · Middle names for Beau · Short names · Nickname-proof names
The Beau deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Beau truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Beau fits with your family’s names and surname.
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