Barbara
Meaning
foreign woman
Goes by Babette, Babs, Barb, Basia, and 1 more
Famously borne by Barbara Hillary, who survived lung cancer and became the first Black woman to reach both poles. Famously borne by Barbara McClintock, geneticist and Nobel laureate who discovered transposable genetic elements.
The story
Barbara descends from the Greek barbaros, the word for anyone who was not Greek. What carried it through the centuries was a legend: Saint Barbara, locked in a tower by her father and martyred, after which lightning struck him dead. She became the protector against lightning, fire, and sudden danger, patron of artillerymen, stonemasons, and architects, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The name grew rare in England after the Reformation, revived in the nineteenth century, and then staged one of America's great unexplained ascents: into the top 10 by 1927, then second or third for much of the 1930s and 40s, often just behind Mary. No song, no star, no trigger anyone has found. A word that meant stranger became one of the most familiar names in the country.
Barbara in song
Barbara Ann
The Regents (1961)
A Bronx doo-wop group's hit, written by Fred Fassert about his sister, though most people know the Beach Boys' loose party version from 1965.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Barbara peaked in the 1940s.
Popularity in Brazil
181,614 people · the #184 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,119 · median age 25
Among people named Barbara living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 5,656 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Barbara
Most people given the name Barbara in the United States were born between 1940 and 1969. The Barbara you meet today is most often in her 60s or 70s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Barbara deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Barbara truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Barbara fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Barbara · Polish baby names · Names of explorers and adventurers · Names of geniuses and inventors
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