Lisa Maxwell’s late daughter, Beau Jessup, made a staggering fortune in her teens after a family friend required help naming his daughter, who was three at the time
Lisa Maxwell’s daughter raked in thousands thanks to a clever business idea in her teens. On Thursday, it was announced that Beau Jessup died at age 27 while studying at Columbia University in New York.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the university said: “Columbia Journalism School mourns the loss of Beau Jessup, a student in our M.S. program. We join Jessup’s family, friends and classmates in remembering her.”
Dean of the journalism school Jelani Cobb paid tribute in an email to the university’s team and students. “There is no easy way to share news of this nature, and I recognise how painful it is to receive messages like this one,” he wrote. “Any loss within our school family is difficult to process, and our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Beau’s family and friends during this heartbreaking time.”
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As an investigation into the tragedy continues, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has confirmed to the New York Daily News that the cause and manner of death remain undetermined.
“We are investigating. The cause and manner of death are pending further study,” the office told the publication in an email. Meanwhile, sources tell Page Six that Beau’s death was “not suspicious” and involved “no criminality.”
But while Beau may have been the daughter of The Bill and Loose Women royalty, Lisa, she had carved out a name for herself as a businesswoman. During her teens, she came up with the idea to launch specialname.cn – after a family friend asked for help with naming his daughter.
At the time, there was huge demand among Chinese parents to name their children with Western names. It was reported at the time that they believed that having a traditional English name, which could be easily pronounced, read, and written, would increase the chances of their offspring securing a place at university or a job.
However, in China, internet use was restricted, so they were unable to use standard baby-naming websites, which are easily accessible in the UK. Beau discovered that this led people to name their children Rolex, Cinderella, Rambo and Gandalf.
And then came her website, Special Name, which allowed expectant parents to choose appropriate English names. Beau named the first 160,000 babies for free before charging just 60p for a name.
In 2019, it was reported that Beau had named more than 670,000 babies and had made more than £260,000. Speaking back in 2016, just a few months after the business launched, Beau said: “When I went to China, I kept being asked to name babies for my parents’ friends.
“They explained an English name is vital because you can’t use a Chinese name on email or a university application to the UK. Your English name stays with you for life.
“But I also heard lots of examples where people had chosen culturally inappropriate English names they’d heard from films or read online and realised there was an opportunity to help Chinese people get it right from the start.” Specialname relied on the Chinese tradition of giving children unique names.
The site invited parents to select from a list of 12 personality traits – including sensitive, honest, creative and clever – to match their aspirations for their child. Three shortlisted names were then presented, along with their meaning and a famous namesake such as Grace Kelly or Catherine Middleton.
Parents were also able to share the options with friends and family via the messaging app WeChat – the Chinese equivalent of WhatsApp – so they could help make the final choice. The entire process took just three minutes to complete. After the name was chosen, users were sent a naming certificate.
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