Beau is the French word for "handsome" or "beautiful" and was long used in English as a word for a well-dressed gentleman or a sweetheart, as with the Regency dandy Beau Brummell. In the American South it has been a nickname and given name for generations. Beau ranked number 467 in the United States in 2000, climbed from number 203 in 2015 into the top 100 in 2021 and reached number 60 among boys in 2025, its highest rank ever.