Barbara (given name)

Barbara

Saint Barbara by Jan van Eyck.
Gender	female
Origin
Word/name	Greek
Meaning	"barbarian"

Barbara is a female given name used in numerous languages. It is the feminine form of the Greek word barbaros (Greek: βαρβαρος) meaning "foreign" (see Barbarian. In Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox tradition, Saint Barbara was martyred by her father, who was then punished with death by lightning. As such, St. Barbara is a protectress against fire and lightning. Other saints of this name include Barbara Avrillot (Barbe Aurillot) and Barbara Koob.

Today, Barbara remains among the top 100 most popular names for female babies born in Hungary, Chile, and Slovenia. Its popularity in the United States has declined from third place, in the 1930s, to 633rd place, in 2007.

Variants

• Babette (English)
• Babs (English)
• Baibín (Irish Gaelic)
• Báirbre (Irish)
• Barabal (Scottish)
• Bárbara (Portuguese)
• Barbarella (Italian)
• Barbary (English)
• Barbie (English)
• Barbora (Czech), (Slovakian)
• Barbra (English)
• Barbro (Swedish)
• Basha (Polish)
• Basia (Polish)
• Bobbi (English)
• Bobbie (English)
• Bobby (English)
• Borbála (Hungarian)
• Varenka (Russian)
• Varinka (Russian)
• Varvara (Bulgarian), (Greek), (Russian)
• Varya (Russian)
• Varyusha (Russian)

People named Barbara

• Barbara Bach, an actress
• Barbara Bouchet, an actress
• Barbara Hendricks, a soprano
• Barbara McClintock, a geneticist
• Barbara Walters, a journalist
• Barbra Streisand, an actress

See also

• Barbora
• Varvara