Barbara

Barbara is the Latin form of the Greek barbarus. The Greek word comes from bar-bar, which was sort of a Greek version of "blah blah" and referred to the language of foreigners which sounded like no more than "bar-bar" (or blah blah) to them. Therefore, barbarus came to mean "foreign," and Barbara means "foreign woman." The word barbarian comes from the same source. Other meanings related to the word are sometimes given for Barbara, including "strange," "exotic," and "untamed." Barbara is a saint's name: Saint Barbara is the patron saint of stonemasons, architects, and artillerymen, among other things. Barbara is currently somewhat out-of-fashion as a name for baby girls. It was extremely popular during the first half of the 20th century, and was a top ten name in the U.S. for most of the three decades (the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's.) Because of this, many many people have mothers, grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers named Barbara. Often when this happens a name starts to be associated with the "older generations" and goes out of fashion until the older generation has passed. Barbara has not fallen completely out of use, but its popularity has been on a steady decline since the 1960's, and it currently isn't even quite in the top 500. Barbara is a classic name, however, plus a saint's name, so it is doubtful that it will become obssolete. The name can be expected to eventually experience a resurgence in popularity. Barbara is a versatile name, but its versatility is another reason for its decline in popularity; one of the main nicknames for Barbara is Barbie and that name has been virtually taken over by its association with Barbie Dolls. Other nicknames for Barbara are Babs, Babette, and Barb, and Bobbie. The variant spelling Barbra is sometimes used, but I'll deal with that as a name in its own right at some point.