Barbara
A girls’ name of Greek origin, meaning foreign or strange.
How Barbara has moved
View as table
| Year | US rank |
|---|---|
| 2015 | #853 |
| 2016 | #855 |
| 2017 | #897 |
| 2018 | #923 |
| 2019 | #931 |
| 2020 | #892 |
| 2021 | #905 |
| 2022 | #976 |
| 2023 | #877 |
| 2024 | #860 |
| 2025 | #968 |
Barbara by the numbers
In 2025, 11 babies in England and Wales were named Barbara. In the US, 292 were, though that figure is from 2017, the most recent full year we hold.
For the size of the two countries, it is given several times more often in the US than in England and Wales.
Its American peak was 48,791 babies in 1947, so it is a 1940s name that has since fallen a long way.
At its height, in 1940, about 1 in 32 American girls born that year was called Barbara.
Names that come from Barbara
Forms of Barbara in other languages, names built from it, and names that mean a son or daughter of it. Not always the same sex.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of Barbara. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
Names about as common as Barbara
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