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Baby names

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Original poster

Oh wise Mumsnetter's please help settle this argument- Beau.

105 replies

PirateJelly · 30/09/2013 18:05

A friend has recently name her gorgeous newborn DD Ava-Beau, all as one name like Ellie-May. Now she is adamant it is pronounced Ava 'Bew' like the start of ' beautiful'

Now I am sure Beau is pronounced bow

For the sake of my sanity please tell me who is correct?
It wouldn't be so bad if it was just her (and I would never get into an argument with her about it, as I know how sensitive she will be right now) but a mutual friend of mine text me the name when she was born and then when I saw her I said "oh so she's called her Ava Bow?" And was told don't be daft that's a stupid name, it's definitely Ava Bow Hmm and to stop taking the piss out of our friends DD's name Confused. I was going to argue that that is how most people will read it but wanted to be sure first incase I'm wrong.

Thanks Smile

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DiaryofaHollandParkParent · 30/09/2013 18:57

Well if they are happy with the name - leave it be. I was speaking to a colleague recently who had given her child an Irish name but pronounced it totally wrong - similar to nee-am for Niamh (Neve); she was very pleased with her choice. I did say that in Ireland they pronounce it like xxxx, but didn't tell her it was wrong. Up to her I guess.

Original poster
PirateJelly · 30/09/2013 18:58

There has been a surge of corkers recently with my fb friends, not that I'm one to judge ofcourse Grin But I definitely feel a new shift of style in baby names with people I know Smile

OP posts:
JimmyCorkhill · 30/09/2013 18:58

Ha ha - Isla is correct! I have 'loved' every baby name I've heard, in public. I think I've only truly liked one in the last 3 years Grin.

WinteronPluto · 30/09/2013 20:56

I agree - Bow and it's masculine.

Tattiesthroughthebree · 30/09/2013 21:15

I know a Beau. His name is pronounced Bow.

Choccyhobnob · 01/10/2013 09:30

Oh that would totally make me cringe if that were my friend!!

Handbagsonnhold · 01/10/2013 09:36

Our neighbours have a horse called Beau and definately pronounce it 'Bow' very cringey the whole Bew thing ......little baby Ava 'Ferris' Beuler perhaps!!!!

AugustRose · 01/10/2013 09:37

I know two children with the name Beau (both pronounced Bow - I would never say Bew), one is a girl and one is a boy.

Parmarella · 01/10/2013 09:39

you cannot call a girl Beau, FFS, who are these nutters? It is like calling your girl Herman or Pablo or Hans.

HighJinx · 01/10/2013 09:41

Definitely Bow to rhyme with low and not bew to rhyme with spew.

SkodaLabia · 01/10/2013 09:43

Oh dear, the daft bat. I wonder when she'll give in. Grin

thecockyfoxreturns · 01/10/2013 09:43

It is Bow and definitely a boys name.

That being said I would actually like it as a whole Ava-Beau for a girl if it wasn't pronounced bew.

Parmarella · 01/10/2013 09:44

I can see a future where people will say:

" This is my little girl called Hermoso, it is pronounced Her-Mee-sho, so annoying that everyone gets it wrong"
"I know what you mean, my daughter is called Feo , and we want it pronounced with the Spanish "TH" sound, like The-oth, but people just don't get it!"
" they are just so ignorant"

MissSmiley · 01/10/2013 09:44

Is she pronouncing Ava as in waver or Ava as in arver?

BillyGoatintheBuff · 01/10/2013 09:45

I'm I crackers or do you say Be-u-tiful anyway? That's how I pronounce it anyway, not bew-tiful.

FetchezLaVache · 01/10/2013 09:47

I know of a couple who called their daughter Connie-Beau. I just hope the poor child never goes to live in a French speaking country.

SoupDragon · 01/10/2013 09:48

Beau is bow.
Beautiful is Bew-tiful.

But you can't correct someone when they have already named their child.

BopsX3 · 01/10/2013 09:52

I know 2 people with little girls that have this name. One is Beau (pronounced bow) and the other is Beauley (pronounced Bewley)

WantToMakeTheBestDecionForEver · 01/10/2013 10:07

i know an australian named Beau (very pretty blonde girl) and just thought, 'oh that's how they do it over there, no gender'.

WinterHoliday · 01/10/2013 10:27

I agree with what others have said about the pronunciation (Bo) and that it is the male spelling. However, I just had a look at the ONS statistics and there were 302 girls named Beau in 2012 and 341 boys so it is much more popular for girls than I'd assumed. There were also a few hyphenated names like Daisy-Beau and Lilly-Beau.

squoosh · 01/10/2013 11:30

Cringetastic.

squoosh · 01/10/2013 11:36

I completely agree with only saying nice things about a baby's name but when someone is pronouncing their child's name so wildly incorrectly you just need to say something.

HavantGuard · 01/10/2013 13:02

Poor child.

Original poster
PirateJelly · 01/10/2013 13:19

Oh god it gets worse. I was discussing this earlier with my friends cousin. Apparently the name originally was going to Ava Beau-Tee as in Ava Beauty but her DP vitoed it saying it was silly, so they settled on Ava-Beau. Although apparently my friend is still considering using this name and is nagging her dp in letting her add it to the birth certificate!

I said to her cousin you know if she does that her DD's name will be pronounced Ava Bow Tee which looks remarkably like Ave a bow tie.

And I thought she was pronouncing Ava - A-vah but her cousin rekons it Av-er so Av-er Bew and it's quite exotic! The mind boggles Confused

OP posts:
WantToMakeTheBestDecionForEver · 01/10/2013 13:23

The poor baby needs a lawyer.

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