Help! Can't decide...

[hayleymarie3]

Hi,
I need your help.
We are in love with the girls name Beau....
I understand its french for 'handsome' or 'beautiful boy' but does this really matter? will she get bullied?
We could use the spelling 'boe' but i think its an ugly version.
Can't use Bo as its like B-O.

Full name would be Beau Rose-Ann Ashley
Thank you

[cakeymccakington]

i have heard of people using it for a girl, but traditionally it IS a boys name

[cakeymccakington]

but if you really love it you should use it anyway. doesn't matter what we think. it's your baby :)

[Bowlersarm]

I would think of a boy. I think she'll get that assumption a lot.

[rootypig]

I know a Bo. She is great! architecture phd.

[Poshsausage]

I only know a bo which is short for Boudicca she is so cute and it suits her in a way

[telsa]

I have heard a Baudelaire, as a girl.

[stackablegoatbearingcheesecake]

I would assume your DC was a boy.
Bo Derek (actress) was the original 10 in the film of the same name.
If it were my choice I'd be very happy to go with Bo.

Although however you spell it you look in line for a Bo-Ro, not too sure about that to be honest. I'm also not sure about giving a child the initials BRA or BRAA. Sorry.

[squoosh]

Beau refers to male beauty so to me it's a male name.

Go for Bo, as in short for................. Boadicea, Bo Diddley, Haribo or Asbo. Okay maybe not. Although in Irish 'bo' means 'cow', so I wouldn't go for that either.

Actually isn't Ulrika Jonsson's daughter called Bo?

[Anotheronesoon]

I know three little Beaus - all boys, so would assume doc was a boy.

[Sharaluck]

It needs to be Bo for a girl. Beau is a boy name. I don't think of B O btw.

[grizzabellia]

Beau is a boy's name. If I met someone who had called their daughter Beau I would assume they just did not realise this. Given that you do realise, I think it would be a very strange choice. I think Belle is the equivalent for girls. Bo is ok but personally would only use if had appropriate (Scandinavian?) heritage.

[alita7]

Maybe think of a long name you could use to make Beau ok for a girl because it is a boys name (albeit a very feminine sounding one) and I think it would cause confusion. What about beauty, shortened to beau (long shot I know...) or ummm... oh I don't know.

[Onesleeptillwembley]

It's a terrible boys name. Even worse if a poor girl would be saddled with it. And the double barrelled second name is hideous, sorry. Btw I have a double barrelled name. Even as a middle name, don't.

[peppinagiro]

I know a female Beau. She's a perfectly lovely woman, but I was a bit [judgey face - assume parents are ignorant of French genders] when I heard it. So were the rest of my friends. It's masculine.

[looki]

I'd go with the spelling Bo. Beau to me is a male name.

[Mondaybaby]

What about Blu? That is a pretty name and not dissimilar.

[NewtRipley]

Hmm
I can't get over the fact that awful woman on Loose Woman has a daughter called Beau/Bo.

I think it is a boy's name but like a lot of boys names has become more popular for girls

What about

Robyn
Stevie
Billie?

All nice boy/girl names

[NewtRipley]

Or, more along the lines of Beau:

Celeste
Lucia
Lois
Fleur
Elodie
Sandrine
Manon

[NewtRipley]

Or Bo short for Bonnie

[Edgarallan]

Definitely Bo NOT Beau for a girl just imagine if she spends any time in France in the future......!

[florascotia]

Someone up-thread mentioned Bo Derek. For her, Bo is a nickname/stage name. Her original name was Mary Cathleen...

There is an very old - medieval - French version of Isabelle: Isabeau or Ysabeau (say: EE-zah-bow) www.behindthename.com/submit/name/isabeau
That could give 'Beau' as an everyday name/ nickname, perhaps, and provide a traditionally female name for other purposes?

[DaleyBum]

I have a male name. Doesn't bother me.

[florascotia]

Daley - that's great! And there are plenty of names that work fine for boys and girls, eg Rowan, Meredith...

I think the reason why some people are not keen on 'beau' for a girl is not just because it's a boy's name (it isn't, usually, in France) but because it's a specifically masculine form of an adjective meaning good-looking. It's the equivalent of calling a strapping teenage boy 'sweetly pretty'.

[charlyn]

Its a boys name. How about Bea instead? Could use a longer name too like Beatrice