Danish and Swedish1 syllableTwo letters
Meaning: one who dwells; the settled one.
Bo
| Origin | Danish and Swedish, from an Old Norse byname; separately, an English short form of Beau, Beauregard and Robert |
|---|---|
| Meaning | The Scandinavian Bo comes from Old Norse búa, to live or to dwell — the householder, the one who has settled. The American Bo usually carries no meaning of its own beyond the name it shortens; where it stands in for Beau, that is French beau, handsome |
| Pronunciation | BOH, rhyming with go |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100 and uncommon in America; a long-established traditional name in Denmark and Sweden, where it needs no explanation |
| Variants | Beau is the French spelling Americans usually reach for; Bosse is the Swedish familiar form |
| Nicknames | None required — Bo is already as short as a name gets |
| Also short for | Beauregard, Robert and Bobby. Bo Jackson was born Vincent; Bo Diddley was born Ellas McDaniel |
History & meaning
Two names share these two letters, and they have nothing to do with each other. The older one is Scandinavian: Old Norse búa, to dwell or to live somewhere, the same verb family that gave English “bower” and German bauen. As a byname it marked the man who had settled, the householder, and it appears in Danish and Swedish records through the medieval period and has been in continuous use ever since. Denmark and Sweden have plenty of grown men called Bo who have never once been asked what it is short for.
The American Bo grew out of southern nickname culture, where a boy might be Bo for his whole life without it appearing on a single document. Bo Jackson, the only man to be an All-Star in baseball and a Pro Bowler in football, was christened Vincent Edward Jackson. Bo Diddley, who built a rhythm the whole of rock music borrowed, was Ellas McDaniel. Bo Burnham was born Robert. The Scandinavian and American versions have converged on the page and stayed separate underneath, and it is worth knowing which one you are giving your son.
Why parents choose it
Two letters. Bo survives a long or complicated surname better than almost anything else, it is unambiguous over the phone, and it has an easy, unbothered quality that longer names have to work for. The one real cost is that Americans will assume it is short for something, and your son will spend his life saying “no, just Bo”.
Middle names for Bo
One syllable needs room after it, and the longer the better: Bo Alexander, Bo Nathaniel, Bo Everett, Bo Sullivan. The middle names guide has more on pairing very short first names.
Famous Bos
On the Scandinavian side, where it is the whole name: Bo Widerberg, the Swedish director of Elvira Madigan, and Bo Svenson, the Swedish-born actor of Walking Tall and Inglourious Basterds. On the American side, where it was acquired: Bo Jackson and Bo Diddley, both of them famous enough that the nickname buried the birth certificate. Four men, two entirely different naming traditions.
Consider instead
Beau is the same sound with the French spelling and a good deal more American company. Rex is equally short and carries a real Latin meaning, king. If it is the Danish thread you like, Soren gives you Scandinavian substance in two syllables.