Origin
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.
Beable : from Old French beau ‘beautiful’ + peil ‘hair’. Earlier forms of the surname with -p- such as Beaupel and Beaple are now extinct. The form Beable is due to voicing of /p/ to /b/.
Beaubien : French Canadian: from French beau bien ‘beautiful property’ a nickname apparently referring to the location of an estate. Compare Bobian.
Beaubrun : West Indian (mainly Haiti also Martinique and Dominican Republic): from French beau brun ‘beautiful brown’ hence a nickname referring to an individual's hair or skin color.
Beauchemin : French: topographic name from beau chemin ‘beautiful road’ apparently related to the site of an estate or property. This surname is rare in France. Compare Goodroad.
Beauchesne : French: topographic name from Old French beau chesne ‘beautiful oak’ apparently related to the site of an estate or property.
Beauclerk : evidently a 17th-century coinage from French beau ‘fine handsome’ + clerc ‘clerk’.
Beaulac : French: topographic name from beau lac ‘beautiful lake’ apparently related to the site of an estate or property. This surname is rare in France.
Beauparlant : French: nickname for someone with a gift for oratory from beau parlant ‘smooth talker’.
Beaupre : French (Beaupré): habitational name from (Le) Beaupré or (Le) Beau Pré names of several places in various parts of France or a topographic name from beau pré ‘beautiful meadow’ apparently related to the site of an estate or property.
Beauregard : French: habitational name from any of various places in France named Beauregard for their fine view or fine aspect for example in Ain Dordogne Drôme Lot and Puy-de-Dôme from beau ‘fair lovely’ + regard ‘aspect outlook’ or a topographic name with the same meaning. Compare Begor Burgard and Burgor.
Beausang : from Old French beau sang ‘good blood’.
Beausoleil : French: topographic name from beau ‘lovely fair’ + soleil ‘sun’ probably denoting a place that was exposed to the sun or a habitational name from any of various minor places called so. Compare Boseley Bosley and Bousley.
Beavis : English (of Norman origin):: 1: habitational name from Beauvais (Oise) which takes its name from a Gaulish people known to the Romans as the Bellovaci.2: nickname from Old French bel beau ‘fine’ + fils ‘son’. Bel was often used as a term of affection hence the meaning in many cases is ‘dear son’.
Bellamy : English (of Norman origin) and French: literal or ironic nickname meaning ‘fair friend’ from French beau ‘fair handsome’ (bel before a vowel) + ami ‘friend’.
Bouffler : from Old French beau flour ‘fair flower’.
Bowdley : perhaps from Bewdley (Worcs) which is recorded as Be(a)ul(i)eu from 1275–1424 Buleye in 1316 Beudeley in 1349 and Bowedeley in 1452. The place-name appears to derive from Old French beau lieu ‘fine place’ (compare Bewley) with the -d- perhaps due to confusion following the anglicization of the name.
Dubeau : French:: 1: patronymic with fused preposition and definite article du ‘of the’ from the nickname (Le) Beau ‘(the) handsome (the) beautiful’ (see Beau and Lebeau).2: habitational name with fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’ for someone from Le Beau the name of several places in various parts of France.
Lebeau : 1: French: nickname from le beau ‘the handsome’ a variant of Beau with fused masculine definite article le. It is also found in England as a surname of Huguenot origin. See also Lebel.2: Altered form with fused masculine definite article le of French Bau. Compare Labeau Labo Lebo and Lebow.
More
Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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