Entry № 0324 · Greek origin

Barbara Barbara — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ BAR-brah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Foreign / stranger (peaked #2 in 1937; Barbara Walters, Barbara Jordan)"
Syllables
3
Rank · US 2025
№ 901
First recorded
Medieval (Latin)

A name that means "foreign / stranger (peaked #2 in 1937; barbara walters, barbara jordan)".

Barbara is from the Greek barbaros ("non-Greek-speaking, foreign") — the same root as "barbarian." **Ranked #2 in the US in 1937; held a top-10 spot from 1927 to 1958**. **Barbara Walters (1929-2022)** — broke the gender barrier as **the first female evening news anchor on a major US network** (1976) and creator of *The View*. **Barbara Jordan (1936-1996)** — first Black woman elected to the Texas Senate and the US Congress from the Deep South; delivered the keynote at the 1976 Democratic National Convention. **Saint Barbara of Heliopolis** — early Christian martyr, patron saint of artillerymen.

Subject of Susan Page's *The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters* (2024).

Foreign. Barbara Walters; Barbara Jordan; peaked at #2 in 1937.

The name in its native script.

Barbara
Transliteration
Barbara
Pronunciation
/ ˈbɑːr.brə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Barbara stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 901 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 2 in 1937
Babies named Barbara · last year
280 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
1880
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · #2 NOW · #901

Barbaras before her.

Real people
Barbara Walters
American news anchor.
1929 – 2022
Barbara Jordan
American congresswoman.
1936 – 1996
Barbra Streisand
American Oscar-winning singer.
born 1942
In fiction
Barbara
Major Barbara.
1905

Names connected to Barbara.

The number behind Barbara.

1

The Pioneer

Barbara reduces to one — the number of pioneering anchor.

Why families chose this name.

"Walters and Jordan. Seven letters. Barbara."
Catherine · Mother of one · Boston