[2]: 657 This condition of the nail was named by a French physician, Joseph Honoré Simon Beau (1806–1865), who first described it in 1846.

Beau's lines are horizontal, going across the nailline, and should not be confused with vertical ridges going from the bottom (cuticle) of the nail out to the fingertip.

Some other reasons for these lines include trauma, coronary occlusion, hypocalcaemia, and skin disease.

They may be a sign of systemic disease, or may also be caused by an illness of the body, as well as drugs used in chemotherapy, or malnutrition.

Human nails grow at a rate which varies with many factors: age, the specific digit, as well as nutrition.