Explore the Family Name Beau

The meaning of Beau

French: nickname for a handsome man (perhaps also ironically for an ugly one), from Old French beu, bel ‘beautiful, handsome’ (from Late Latin bellus). This surname is also found in Germany. Compare Bel and Lebeau. Some characteristic forenames: French Andre, Laurent, Pascal, Remi.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Beau in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Beau has seen a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname ranked 60,887 in terms of frequency, but by 2010, it dropped to 66,553, marking a decrease of 9.31%. The total count of individuals carrying this surname also fell from 309 to 297 during this period, indicating a reduction of 3.88%. Furthermore, its proportion per 100k population went down from 0.11 to 0.1, showing a drop of 9.09%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#60,887	#66,553	-9.31%
Count	309	297	-3.88%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.1	-9.09%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Beau

When looking at the ethnic identity associated with the Beau name as per the Decennial U.S. Census data, there are several noticeable changes between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of Beaus identifying as White declined slightly from 76.70% to 74.07%, while those identifying as Black also saw a small decrease, going from 15.53% to 14.81%. The number of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic showed an increase, though the former had no recorded percentage in 2000 and the latter rose to 3.03% by 2010. Notably, individuals identifying as belonging to two or more races or as American Indian and Alaskan Native were not recorded in 2010, whereas they made up 3.24% and 2.27% respectively in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	76.7%	74.07%	-3.43%
Black	15.53%	14.81%	-4.64%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	3.7%	0%
Hispanic	0%	3.03%	0%
Two or More Races	3.24%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	2.27%	0%	0%