Bo (given name)

The name Bo has Norse roots, which in the Scandanavian languages (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish) is associated with the present-day Scandinavian word 'bo', meaning "live", as in exist/living (related to life), and reside/nest (related to dwelling). Bo is also short for names such as Beaufort, Beauregard, Bonita, or Bonnie, etc; it is also a less common shortening of the name Robert, which is usually shortened to Bob. It can also be a shortening of the name James, which is usually shortened to Jimmy, Jim, or Jimbo.

Notable people

Given name

• Bo Anderson, birth name of American Brazilian DJ and producer Maga Bo
• Bo Bergman (1869–1967), Swedish poet
• Bo Bichette (born 1998), Major League Baseball player
• Bo Boustedt (1868–1939), Swedish Army lieutenant general
• Bo Bowling (born 1987), American football player
• Bo Carpelan (1926–2011), Finnish poet and author
• Bo Danske, 13th-century Danish philosopher
• Bo Ehnbom (1899–1985), Swedish military engineer
• Bo Ericson (athlete) (1919–1970), Swedish hammer thrower
• Bo Goldman (1932–2023), American writer, Broadway playwright, and screenwriter
• Bo Hamburger (born 1970), Danish cyclist
• Bo Hansson (1943–2010), Swedish musician
• Bo Holmberg (1942–2010), Swedish politician
• Bo Horvat (1995), Canadian ice hockey player
• Bo Johansson (born 1942), Swedish former football player and current football coach
• Bo Larsson (1944–2023), Swedish football midfielder/striker
• Bo Ljungberg (1911–1984), Swedish pole vaulter
• Bo Melton (born 1999), American football player
• Bo Levi Mitchell (born 1990), Canadian football quarterback
• Bo Mossberg, Swedish author and illustrator of Den nya nordiska floran
• Bo Nickal (born 2000), American wrestler and mixed martial artist
• Bo Nix (born 2000), American football quarterback
• Bo Persson (table tennis), Swedish table tennis player
• Bo Petersson, (born 1946), Swedish football manager and former football player
• Bo Randall (1909–1989), American knifemaker
• Bo Johan Renck (born 1966), Swedish director of music videos, TV and film
• Bo Rybeck (1935–2019), Swedish physician
• Bo Scarbrough (born 1996), American football player
• Bo Svenson (born 1941), Swedish-born American actor
• Bo Svensson (born 1979), Danish football player
• Bo Toresson (born 1939), Swedish politician
• Bo Varenius (1918–1996), Swedish major general
• Bo Vestergaard (born 1965), Danish lightweight rower
• Bo Widerberg (1930–1997), Swedish film director

Nickname

• Bo Belinsky (1936–2001), American Major League Baseball pitcher
• Bo Bice (born 1975), American singer who placed second on the fourth season of American Idol
• Bo Bruce (born 1984), English singer-songwriter
• Gudmundur S. (Bo) Bodvarsson (1952–2006), Icelandic hydrogeologist
• Bo Bolinger (1932–2011), American football player
• Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (1805–1870), American farmer, son of Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Jérôme and Elizabeth Patterson
• Bo Brown (1906–1996), American cartoonist
• Bo Burnham (born 1990), American singer songwriter/comedian
• Bo Burris (born 1944), American National Football League player
• Bo Callaway (1927–2014), American politician and businessman
• Bo Cornell (born 1949), American National Football League player
• Israel "Bo" Curtis (1932–2012), African-American educator and politician
• Bo Derek (born 1956), American actress
• Bo Diddley (1928–2008), American R&B and Chicago blues musician
• Bo Goldman (1932–2023), American writer, Broadway playwright, and screenwriter
• Bo Gritz (born 1939), American former US Army officer and perennial candidate
• Bo Halldórsson (born 1951), Icelandic pop singer
• Bo Hines (born 1995), American football player and politician
• Bo Hopkins (1938–2022), American actor
• Bo Horvat (born 1995), Canadian hockey player
• Bo Jackson (born 1962), American National Football League and Major League Baseball player
• Bo Kimble (born 1966), American basketball player
• Bo Lamar (born 1951), American basketball player
• Bo McCalebb (born 1985), American-Macedonian professional basketball player
• Bo Mitchell (born 1970), representative in the Tennessee House of Representatives
• Bo Outlaw (born 1971), American National Basketball Association player
• Bo Pelini (born 1967), American college football head coach
• Bo Rein (1945–1980), American, football player, baseball player, and football coach
• Bo Roberson (1935–2001), American, track and field athlete, and football player
• Bo Robinson (born 1956), American National Football League player
• Bo Ryan (born 1947), American college basketball coach and former player
• Bo Schembechler (1929–2006), American football player, college head coach and administrator
• Bo Snerdley, pseudonym of James Golden (radio personality)
• Bo Songvisava (born 1979/1980), Thai chef
• Bo Welch (born 1951), American production designer, art director, film and TV director, actor

Chinese given name Bō

• Chu Bo (born 1944), politician
• Hu Bo (1988–2017), film director
• Qiu Bo (born 1993), diver
• Sun Bo (executive) (born 1961)

Fictional characters

• Bo Adams, main character in the Believe TV series
• Bo Abobo from the video game Double Dragon
• Bo, a character from the video game Brawl Stars
• Bo Brady, in the soap opera Days of Our Lives
• Bo Buchanan, in the soap opera One Life to Live
• Bo Callahan, main draft prospect in the movie Draft Day
• Bo Cocky, the main protagonist in the 2006 film Supertwink
• Bo (Lost Girl) (Bo Dennis), protagonist of the Canadian TV series Lost Girl
• Bo Duke, one of the main characters in The Dukes of Hazzard TV series
• Bo Monkey, a main character in the Nickelodeon TV series Fresh Beat Band of Spies
• Bo Orlov, a character in the Netflix series Grand Army
• Little Bo Peep, from a nursery rhyme
  • Bo Peep, in the Toy Story animated film
• Bo' Rai Cho, in the Mortal Kombat video game series
• Bo Sheep, in the U.S. Acres comic strip
• Bo Sinclair, in the 2005 film House of Wax
• Bo, a cheetah from the British animated TV series Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies
• Bo, a cartoon character in Muse magazine
• Bo, an orphan named "Boniface" in the Cornelia Funke novel The Thief Lord
• Bo, the main protagonist of the 2017 animated film The Star
• Bo Hess from the movie Signs

See also

• Beau (name), given name and surname