Beau
Masculine name of French origin meaning "handsome" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 60,185 living Americans carry the first name Beau. It sits at #69 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Beau today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Beau births was 2024 (4,759 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Piper (60,167).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Beau. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Beau with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Beau is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 951 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Beau is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
60K
~ 1 in 5,695 Americans
Peak year
2024
4,759 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#69
Tracked since 1932
Census
Beau in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 38,091 people with the first name Beau, which placed it at #1,085 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,085
National first-name rank
People counted
38K
38,091 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
12.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Beau
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beau is White at 86.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.3%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Beau described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Beau at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.5% · 32,952
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 2,008
- Two or more races4.8% · 1,826
- Black or African American1.3% · 490
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 469
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 346
Gender
Gender distribution for Beau
Beau leans heavily male at 98.5% of total registrations, but 951 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Beau as a male name
- Ranked #69 in 2024
- 4,694 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (4,694 births)
Beau as a female name
- Ranked #2,660 in 2024
- 65 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (65 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beau leans strongly male. 37,401 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 688 female bearers (1.8%).
Popularity
Beau: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Beau from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 20,188 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Beau by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Beau during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Beaus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Beau, while District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,147 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Beau
Beau is a French name derived from the Old French word "beau" meaning "handsome" or "beautiful." The name has been in use since the Middle Ages and was initially used as a nickname or descriptive term rather than a formal given name.
The earliest recorded use of Beau as a given name dates back to the 13th century in France. During this time, it was common for people to adopt descriptive nicknames based on physical characteristics or virtues, and Beau likely emerged as a complimentary term for an attractive individual.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Beau was Beau Brummell (1778-1840), an influential English gentleman and arbiter of men's fashion in the Regency era. His impeccable style and attention to detail set the standard for men's dress in the early 19th century, and the term "Beau Brummell" became synonymous with elegance and refinement.
Another famous Beau in history was Beau Nash (1674-1761), a celebrated English dandy and master of ceremonies at the city of Bath. He played a significant role in establishing Bath as a fashionable resort town and was known for his wit, charm, and love of extravagance.
In the realm of literature, Beau Tibault is a prominent character in William Shakespeare's play "Henry VI, Part 2." Tibault is a French nobleman and a supporter of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses. The name Beau was likely chosen to reflect his noble and handsome character.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Beau as a given name in the United States was Beau Brummell Browne (1779-1861), an American soldier and politician from Kentucky. He served in the War of 1812 and later became a prominent figure in Kentucky politics.
Another notable American with the name Beau was Beau Hickory (1913-1964), a professional wrestler from Texas. He was known for his flamboyant persona and showmanship in the ring, embodying the spirit of the name Beau.
Over time, the name Beau has transcended its original French roots and has been adopted globally, particularly in English-speaking countries. While it retains its association with attractiveness and charm, it has also become a popular choice for parents seeking a unique and stylish name for their children.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Beau
People
Beau + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Beau as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Beau: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Beau?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 60,185 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Beau going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 5,695 US residents.
Is Beau a common name?
We classify Beau as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 61,360 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Beau most popular?
The single biggest year for Beau was 2024, when 4,759 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Beau is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Beau in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 38,091 people with the name Beau, or 12.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,085 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Beau in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Beau?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beau leans strongly male. 37,401 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 688 female bearers (1.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Beau?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beau is White at 86.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.3%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Beau most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Beau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.5% (32,952 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Beau in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Beau a male name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Beau in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Beau still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Beau in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Beau can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Beau?
Want to know how many people share the name Beau? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.