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.

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 1996), 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
 * Htun Aeindra Bo, Burmese actress and singer born Mi Mi Khine in 1966

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 Dupp, a ring name, along with Otto Schwanz, of American professional wrestler William Happer (born 1972)
 * 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