Barbara

Where Barbara comes from

* From Latin Barbara, the name of Saint Barbara, feminine form of barbarus, from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “strange, foreign”). Doublet of Varvara. * (logic): From the given name; chosen because it has three A's in it representing universal affirmatives.
— Wiktionary's entry for Barbara
  • Latin
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #128 among girls — 127 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1902
    Barbara McClintock born
    American scientist and cytogeneticist
  3. 1907
    Barbara Stanwyck born
    American actress
  4. 1942
    Peak, #2
    44,739 babies named Barbara — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1962
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #14.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin.
Namesakes
  • Barbara McClintock · American scientist and cytogeneticist, 1902–1992
  • Barbara Stanwyck · American actress, 1907–1990
  • Barbara Bush · First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, 1925–2018
  • Barbara Walters · American broadcast journalist, 1929–2022
  • Barbara Cartland · English writer and media personality, 1901–2000

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.