I have had a crush on the name [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] ever since childhood. But the realistic part of me says my future daughter will have to correct tons of people who say “[name_f]Isabel[/name_f].” So I decided on the nn [name_u]Bo[/name_u]
[name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] nn [name_u]Bo[/name_u]
It doesn’t feel right. But I [name_m]DON[/name_m]'T like “-bel/belle/bella” names, and I don’t like the name [name_f]Isabel[/name_f].
So, Berries, I have a couple of questions for you.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think a kid named [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] will have to correct people a lot?
Is there a better nickname than [name_u]Bo[/name_u] or [name_u]Izzy[/name_u] for a kid named [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]?
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you like the name [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]?
Is there another “-beau” name that you enjoy? Please share!
I tend to not like bo/beau names. They feel masculine to me. I honestly want to like [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f], but I just can’t. (I love [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] and [name_f]Isobel[/name_f], though, which I know you said you don’t. The [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] spelling makes it much less frilly to me, somehow.)
Honestly, I don’t see any other nn than [name_u]Izzy[/name_u] or [name_m]Beau[/name_m]/[name_u]Bo[/name_u]… Unless you go with the Spanish [name_u]Isa[/name_u] (EE-sa).
I thought this was a boy’s name just from the title, not sure I’ve seen it before. If you really like it, go for it!
In answer to your questions:
It isn’t the easiest of names for people to work out as at first hear they’ll be assuming [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] etc. so there will be a lot of corrections. However, this can happen with loads of names so it’s not necessarily that big a deal. [name_f]My[/name_f] daughter’s name is [name_f]Edith[/name_f] and we call her [name_f]Edie[/name_f] but people can mishear this as [name_f]Evie[/name_f] (and I’ve got 2 friends who persist on spelling it “[name_m]Eddie[/name_m]”!!!)
Nicknames, hmm. If you really like the full name, maybe she won’t need a nickname. None apart from the obvious spring to mind. [name_m]Bobo[/name_m]?! Sab? Yes, or [name_u]Isa[/name_u] as above.
I am ambivalent on this name at the moment. As I say, I’ve not come across it before but could grow to like it!
I love [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] and [name_f]Isobel[/name_f]. I personally hate [name_m]Beau[/name_m] or [name_u]Bo[/name_u] on a girl though but that is just because my dad is named [name_m]Beau[/name_m].
I don’t think an [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] will have to correct her name that much, maybe a few times but once they are corrected I don’t think it will be an issue. I can’t think of anny other good nicknames, but [name_u]Izzy[/name_u] is cute.
I think [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] is beautiful (my mum considered it alongside [name_f]Isabel[/name_f], when she was pregnant with me). I remember in [name_m]French[/name_m] when I was at school, we got to pick a [name_m]French[/name_m] name, and I picked [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]. [name_m]Even[/name_m] the teacher couldn’t get it right (she wasn’t [name_m]French[/name_m] and didn’t have much experience with [name_m]French[/name_m] names apart from [name_f]Claudette[/name_f], [name_f]Paulette[/name_f], etc.). I think a little [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] would be alright, as long as she was okay with correcting people the first few times.
I think [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] is beautiful (my mum considered it alongside [name_f]Isabel[/name_f], when she was pregnant with me). I remember in [name_m]French[/name_m] when I was at school, we got to pick a [name_m]French[/name_m] name, and I picked [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]. [name_m]Even[/name_m] the teacher couldn’t get it right (she wasn’t [name_m]French[/name_m] and didn’t have much experience with [name_m]French[/name_m] names apart from [name_f]Claudette[/name_f], [name_f]Paulette[/name_f], etc.). I think a little [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] would be alright, as long as she was okay with correcting people the first few times.
Ditto @bungo with the [name_f]Edie[/name_f] thing. [name_u]Eden[/name_u] / [name_f]Edie[/name_f] is my sister’s name, and I took her to gymnastics yesterday afternoon. [name_m]Even[/name_m] after all these years, one of her friend’s mother’s is still convinced her name is either [name_f]Ava[/name_f], [name_f]Eva[/name_f] or [name_f]Evie[/name_f] and referred to her as that, no matter how many times I gently corrected her. She has loads of people spell [name_f]Edie[/name_f] as [name_m]Eddie[/name_m] or E.D, which is really annoying, and most people spell it [name_u]Edan[/name_u] or even [name_m]Edon[/name_m] or [name_f]Edin[/name_f]. Some people even say it eh-dehn, instead of ee-dehn. You think that with a universally heard and understood name like [name_u]Eden[/name_u] (garden of [name_u]Eden[/name_u] anyone?), people would understand how to say and spell it. I think that any kid will have problems with their name, regardless of how well known it is- I just think you should be prepare to consistently correct people.
I really like the name, and adore the nickname [name_u]Bo[/name_u]. [name_f]My[/name_f] name is [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] and my nickname is [name_u]Izzy[/name_u], but I’m pretty sure I’d prefer [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] and the nickname [name_u]Bo[/name_u] rather than [name_u]Izzy[/name_u], it’s a lot more interesting. There may be issues with pronunciation and spelling and correcting people thinking is is [name_f]Isabel[/name_f], but I don’t think it matters much at all and when people know the correct spelling and pronunciation, I think it will be fine. It is a lovely name and I wish I was brave enough to use it.
I don’t care for it, just because to me, “-beau” signifies a masculine name and “-belle” signifies a feminine name - I’m bilingual and for the [name_m]French[/name_m] part of my brain, [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] on a girl doesn’t compute. If anything, I would theoretically think it was the male equivalent of [name_f]Isabel[/name_f]/le. I know it’s a girl name, I just can’t get on board. Sorry!
I’ve taken too many [name_m]French[/name_m] classes to ever be able to get behind [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] on a girl. “beau” = “masculine”, and I can’t really change that in my mind. The -beau ending doesn’t make it spunky, it makes it wrong. It’s like trying to use [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] or [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] on a girl. It just doesn’t work for me. Plus, I’ve never gotten the appeal of [name_u]Bo[/name_u]/[name_m]Beau[/name_m] on a girl, so if I could get into it at all, it would be with the [name_u]Issy[/name_u] nn.
I can’t think of any other names that yield [name_m]Beau[/name_m]/[name_u]Bo[/name_u]. [name_f]Bryony[/name_f] nn [name_u]Bo[/name_u], maybe? It’s a bit of a stretch, but I like it loads better than [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f].
This is probably my favorite name for a girl. SO happens to love it, too, so it’s made our short list. If we lived in a bubble, it would be our #1 pick for a girl. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a bubble. I’m not sure what we will ultimately decide if we ever have a daughter. I worry about the spelling/pronunciation issue. I hate almost every -bel name out there. I can’t even say why, I just do, so [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] isn’t really an option for us.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think a kid named [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] will have to correct people a lot? I think she will have to correct most people she meets. Once they know her, it’s no big deal. It’s an easy name to remember, but at a glance, it seems to confuse people, even those who have no problem pronouncing or spelling [name_m]Beau[/name_m] by itself. I’ve asked friends to say it and they seem to want to say [name_u]Issa[/name_u]-boo. One of my friends begged me to use it so she can call our daughter [name_u]Issa[/name_u]-boo-boo. That would make a cute baby/toddler nickname, but teenage [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] would probably hate it! haha
Is there a better nickname than [name_u]Bo[/name_u] or [name_u]Izzy[/name_u] for a kid named [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]? I like [name_u]Bo[/name_u] and [name_u]Izzy[/name_u]/ [name_u]Issy[/name_u], but we’re also considering Isby, and just [name_f]Bee[/name_f].
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you like the name [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]? [name_u]Love[/name_u]. I mean, seriously absolutely nuts about it. I’ve been obsessed with it since I was a little girl. Generally, I’ve found most berries don’t care for it (though she has some major fans here!), but the general public (at least in my circle) tend to like it.
Is there another “-beau” name that you enjoy? Not for girls, not that I can think of right now anyway. I like almost all the [name_u]Bo[/name_u] names for boys.
[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t like it at all, sorry. It doesn’t sound like a real name to me. It sounds like a nickname you might give someone named [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f].
I love [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] (in fact, she’s made her way into my top names recently), and think the nickname of [name_u]Bo[/name_u] works brilliantly. I believe it to be a lot nicer than frilly and overly common [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] myself.
I think that while an [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] might grow up getting a lot of comments as to why it was beau (man) not belle (woman), the majority of people would warm to the name and see it as a name itself, rather than comparing the words and their associations, you know? It’s just that its a little different, and people are used to [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], and [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] sounding to be somewhat its opposite, yeah, might raise an eyebrow here and there. [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t let that worry you though, really, it’s a gorgeous name.
Wow, I did not know that [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] would be polarizing!
It’s helpful to me when people share their reasoning & their experiences.
To all the people who love this name, YAY and thank you!
To all the people who do not love this name, and shared the reasoning behind their own perceptions, YAY and thank you!
And to the one person whose feedback was simply “I find it unattractive. Sorry.” Your post did not offer anything worth knowing. I don’t think it is helpful. It is rude to deliberately ignore several specific questions just so you can make sure another person knows what is “unattractive” to you.
I’d never seen [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] until I discovered nameberry! It intrigues me, but I think I would shy away from it just because [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] is SO popular right now that people will hear the [name_u]Isa[/name_u] and fill in the rest.
I do love [name_u]Bo[/name_u]/[name_m]Beau[/name_m] as a nn! I have it on my list for a boy but I can see it being cute for a girl.
Have you thought about a B first name O middle to get there??
[name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]
[name_f]Brigitte[/name_f] Orlah
[name_f]Blythe[/name_f] [name_f]Odile[/name_f]
Etc??
I’m pretty neutral on the name [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] but I find ‘[name_u]Isa[/name_u]’ names more feminine. It’s just one of those names I don’t like or dislike. [name_f]Ebony[/name_f] could be another name that could get you the nickname [name_u]Bo[/name_u].
I love [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f]. I think it is super cool among all the [name_f]Isabel[/name_f]/Isabellas. The -beau part (beau being masculine) doesn’t bother me at all. People use masculine names for girls all the time (as much as us berries hate it), so I don’t see the problem since it is a girls name. I think that she will have to correct people a lot, but once they get use to it it will be fine. [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] isn’t that hard to pronounce (I have a name that is too hard for most people to pronounce right, even on correction), so I don’t think she’ll have to big a problem with it. I love the nns [name_u]Issy[/name_u] and [name_u]Bo[/name_u], but I also love the suggestion of Isby.
If [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] doesn’t feel right to you, that should be the first clue that you shouldn’t go for it.
Now, this is actually a massive pet peeve of mine, because, as a [name_m]French[/name_m] speaker (in my province, it’s mandatory for at least 5 years in school, plus the extra 3 I took), it grates on my nerves to see anything ‘beau’ used on a girl. In the [name_m]French[/name_m] language, there is a masculine and feminine form for a lot of words, especially adjectives. [name_f]Belle[/name_f], for example, is the feminine word for beautiful, and it would be incredibly inappropriate to refer to a male as ‘belle’. [name_m]Beau[/name_m] is the masculine form, and, unless referring to a group of people that includes a mix of males and females, is inappropriate to use for a girl. It’s like taking [name_f]Elowen[/name_f], and spelling it as Ehlowynne, because you can. It shows a bit of disrespect for a foreign language.
I’m also really not a fan of [name_u]Bo[/name_u]/[name_m]Beau[/name_m] on a girl, for the same reason, it sounds awkward and inappropriate if you have a large knowledge of the [name_m]French[/name_m] language, or if you can speak [name_m]French[/name_m] fluently.
[name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] or [name_f]Bonita[/name_f] might get you the [name_u]Bo[/name_u] nickname though.
I don’t like this name nor do I see the appeal. [name_f]Isabel[/name_f]/belle/bella is ridiculously popular so [name_f]Isabeau[/name_f] seems like her parents were trying to be different, like naming a kid Madislynn instead of [name_u]Madison[/name_u]. Be prepared for strange looks and comments because people will assume you’re ignorant of [name_m]Beau[/name_m] vs. [name_f]Belle[/name_f]. Isabow/Isaboe would solve that problem but they aren’t that attractive looking