Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Boy name help - Beau, Jacques or Miles

89 replies

afrenchmum · 11/06/2023 18:35

Hi all,

Due in September and struggling on a boys name. It’s between Beau, Miles and Jacques. What do we think of each name and which is your favourite. Thanks in advance for the help!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
Smallonesaremorejuicy · 12/06/2023 01:51

Miles

mathanxiety · 12/06/2023 01:45

Go with Miles, Jude or Jack.

Or Jackson if you might call him 'Jacks' for short.

You may never move to Ireland, but if you do, you'll find that the jacks is the loo.

Pemba · 12/06/2023 00:59

I am sorry, I just find Beau to be a bit tacky as a name. Not very classy at all. Open to ridicule.

Jacques is quite nice, pronounced correctly. Classic. May be out of fashion in France (no idea) I would check that first.

Miles is nice, the best choice I think.

TakingTheHorseToFrance · 12/06/2023 00:07

I vote Beau. My nephew is called Beau. We have travelled to france with him and no one has batted an eye at his name, shock horror .... maybe we encountered open minded people (or maybe they did ridicule him behind his back!!!).

Daisybuttercup12345 · 11/06/2023 23:45

Jack or Miles.

ChildrenOfTheQuorn · 11/06/2023 22:31

So basically you like reality show names?(Made in Chelsea & Love Island)

Original poster
afrenchmum · 11/06/2023 22:18

@dartsofcupid Rafe is very charming isn’t it. The replacement of P/ F doesn’t overly bother me as there are so many names with the tendancy to be ridiculed in some way. Unless you’re Jack or James, you could have a hard time whatever you’re called. With all the Arlo’s, Otto’s, Teddy’s etc about, I think this next generation of names will be just as out there as the next, and kids will start caring less and less about the names of their peers. Especially as a point of contention/ bait for bullying. Funnily enough we did think of Jules, and I really like it on an adult, not sure I can picture it on a baby up to teen though!

OP posts:
SheilaFentiman · 11/06/2023 22:16

You pronounce it Bo

RoseDeWittBukatter · 11/06/2023 22:14

Beau, how do you pronounce this?

ellenpartridge · 11/06/2023 22:12

Miles is the best on the list.

Jack, Jules, Jude etc all fine but definitely not Jacques prn as Jax. Ridiculous.

Original poster
afrenchmum · 11/06/2023 22:12

@Crimblecrumble1990 didn’t realise it was so undervalued. For what it’s worth I think it’s a great name, strong, not overused and love how it looks written down. Surprisingly, this thread hasn’t put me off.. people will always comment on things they don’t like over things they do! Team Beau all the way!

OP posts:
UnaVaca · 11/06/2023 22:00

Oh my god Jacques is not Jacks - hideous pronunciation.

MargotBamborough · 11/06/2023 21:56

afrenchmum · 11/06/2023 21:05

Gosh this has caused a stir! Maeva and James from Made in Chelsea have named their son Beau and she is French - with French parents and born/ raised in France. Seems they would be okay taking Beau to France, so I’m interested if any people blasting taking Beau to France have any true idea or are just making assumptions. There are some very interesting perspectives nonetheless.

I do love Jude but worry it is the next Teddy/ Theo etc (both great names but wildly popular where we are).

I live in France and yeah, people here would find it ridiculous.

But if it's got the seal of approval from Made in Chelsea...

🙄

ThatFraggle · 11/06/2023 21:33

afrenchmum · 11/06/2023 21:05

Gosh this has caused a stir! Maeva and James from Made in Chelsea have named their son Beau and she is French - with French parents and born/ raised in France. Seems they would be okay taking Beau to France, so I’m interested if any people blasting taking Beau to France have any true idea or are just making assumptions. There are some very interesting perspectives nonetheless.

I do love Jude but worry it is the next Teddy/ Theo etc (both great names but wildly popular where we are).

You can't think the things attention -seeking reality z Listers do are something to copy.

You might as well call him Apple/Pomme and be done with it.

dartsofcupid · 11/06/2023 21:32

Miles and Jacques sound quite aspirational without being hugely interesting. I really like Rafe, it’s dashing, though I would have a worry about piss-taking when he gets older, we know a Rafe and he people do sometimes scrawl over the F with a P on lists etc. Sadly teenage boys can be devastatingly obvious in their slaggings and it feels like an open goal. The scattergun cruelty of adolescents would also deter me from calling a child Beau (or Jolie) just in case they don’t strike their classmates as deserving of the name.

Jules, as suggested by a PP, has style, and, just a thought, Andre?

wordsthreerandom · 11/06/2023 21:28

Miles

kafkascastle · 11/06/2023 21:26

None of them, I’m sorry to say. They sound like cat’s names, except Miles which is just awful.

Crimblecrumble1990 · 11/06/2023 21:25

I have a Beau and luckily he is beautiful but wouldn't matter if he wasn't. The same as a girl being called Belle really.

Who knows if he is ever going to visit France or get into enough conversations with French people for them to judge his name. People hate it here too (as shown on this thread) so not worried about people in another country hating it as well.

GoodVibesHere · 11/06/2023 21:20

Sheesh OP. I suggest you forget attempting a French name! I mean surely you can't name him Jacques and pronounce it as 'Jacks', that is ridiculous.

grass321 · 11/06/2023 21:09

I have a bit of a secret soft spot for Maeva. Although imagine her feisty genes in a toddler.. (Now I'm seeing where Miles came from).

Original poster
afrenchmum · 11/06/2023 21:05

Gosh this has caused a stir! Maeva and James from Made in Chelsea have named their son Beau and she is French - with French parents and born/ raised in France. Seems they would be okay taking Beau to France, so I’m interested if any people blasting taking Beau to France have any true idea or are just making assumptions. There are some very interesting perspectives nonetheless.

I do love Jude but worry it is the next Teddy/ Theo etc (both great names but wildly popular where we are).

OP posts:
Cas112 · 11/06/2023 20:58

Miles

PickledScrump · 11/06/2023 20:55

Jack is great, Jacques is fine but for goodness sake pronounce it correctly. Saying it as Jacks is just butchering it. Beau is not great. Miles is the best from your list.

NameChange30 · 11/06/2023 20:54

MargotBamborough · 11/06/2023 20:31

It's not a name in France, no.

The same number of baby boys were named Beau in France last year as the number of baby boys named Handsome in England: zero.

Not only is it not a name in France, it's a name which will make it impossible for you to travel to France without being the butt of a joke everywhere you go.

Show quote history

Yup

NameChange30 · 11/06/2023 20:52

greglet · 11/06/2023 19:35

If you had a child named Jacques and pronounced it Jacks I would think you were thick as two short planks, frankly. Or should that be planques?

🤣🤣🤣