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
Barbara through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #128 among girls, with 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, its best rank.
  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.