Meaning and history
Beau means "beautiful" or "handsome" in French and has been a given name since the mid-20th century. Margaret Mitchell used it for Ashley and Melanie's son in Gone with the Wind (1936). Though grammatically masculine in French and uncommon as a name in France, it is used for both sexes in Britain and the Netherlands but mainly for boys in America.
20062006: 624 births, rank #437
2007: 691 births, rank #422
2008: 749 births, rank #396
2009: 751 births, rank #397
2010: 766 births, rank #375
20112011: 852 births, rank #352
2012: 1,069 births, rank #310
2013: 1,300 births, rank #272
2014: 1,634 births, rank #230
2015: 1,980 births, rank #203
20162016: 2,125 births, rank #188
2017: 2,511 births, rank #157
2018: 2,598 births, rank #151
2019: 2,933 births, rank #132
2020: 3,344 births, rank #109
20212021: 3,815 births, rank #94
2022: 3,958 births, rank #90
2023: 4,100 births, rank #81
2024: 4,704 births, rank #69
20252025: 5,165 births, rank #60
Beau has risen sharply in the modern US rankings, moving from #467 in 2000 to #60 in 2025. It now stands at #60 for boys. That year also produced its highest recorded birth count, at 5,165.