Barbara
Barbara was the 968th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 264 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 2nd; the most babies were born in 1947 (48,800). Over the last ten years it has moved down 118 places. More babies were named Barbara in the 1940s than in any other decade.
Meaning foreign woman · Latin, Greek
Say it BAR-ber-uh /ˈbɑɹbəɹə/
- Rank in 2025
- #968 girls, down 82 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 264girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 194748,800 babies
- Total since 1880
- 1,440,831babies recorded
What does the name Barbara mean?
Barbara is the feminine of Latin barbarus 'foreign, strange', from Greek barbaros, a word that imitates unintelligible speech ('bar-bar'). The name comes from Saint Barbara, a legendary early martyr, patron of miners, artillerymen and those in danger of lightning. DMNES documents the name across medieval Europe. In the US it was among the most common girls' names of the 1930s and 1940s.
barbarus (Latin, “foreign”)βάρβαρος (barbaros) (Ancient Greek, “foreign, non-Greek”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Barb, Barbie, Babs, Varvara, Bárbara.
See also: Latin names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Barbara', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Barbara', DMNES (Durham University)
Nicknames for Barbara
The usual nicknames for Barbara are Barb, Babs, Barbie and Bobbie. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Barbara in the last five years, 23 were named Bobbie, against 24 twenty years earlier. Barbie is also gaining on the full name.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barb | Traditional | — | — |
| Babs | Traditional | — | — |
| Barbie | Traditional | #4,277 | 183 |
| Bobbie · also for Roberta | Traditional | #2,067 | 343 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Barbaras go by each one.
Barbara popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 4,136 since 1913.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #968 | 264 |
| 2020 | #886 | 301 |
| 2010 | #692 | 412 |
| 2000 | #505 | 534 |
| 1990 | #207 | 1,388 |
| 1980 | #120 | 2,578 |
| 1970 | #41 | 8,026 |
| 1960 | #12 | 24,454 |
| 1950 | #4 | 41,556 |
| 1940 | #2 | 36,736 |
| 1930 | #6 | 18,279 |
| 1920 | #47 | 5,106 |
| 1910 | #136 | 612 |
| 1900 | #162 | 338 |
| 1890 | #147 | 241 |
| 1880 | #128 | 127 |
How popular is Barbara, counting every spelling?
Barbara has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #934 for girls in 2025, against #968 on the official list.
How many kids will share the name Barbara?
264 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Barbara (0.07 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Barbara born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 32 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Barbara.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Barbara?
About 796,600 people born in the US named Barbara are alive today, with a median age of 74; half are between 66 and 80. That makes Barbara a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Barbara by state
How common Barbara was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Pennsylvania (3.9×), Kentucky (2.7×), Missouri (2.2×), Indiana (2.0×), Wisconsin (1.8×). In 24 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Barbara: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Barbara, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Barbara · Sibling names for Barbara
Questions about the name Barbara
What does Barbara mean?
Barbara means “foreign woman” (Latin, Greek origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Barbara?
Barbara was the 968th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 264 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 2nd; the most babies were born in 1947 (48,800). Over the last ten years it has moved down 118 places. More babies were named Barbara in the 1940s than in any other decade.
Is Barbara a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Barbara in the US.
Where is Barbara most popular?
In 2021–2025, Barbara was most common in Pennsylvania (0.70 per 1,000 girls), followed by Kentucky and Missouri.