THE MEANING & THE CONTEXT
The story behind Barbara
Barbara is recorded as a female given name in Tagalog. The source gives a linguistic connection through Spanish, specifically the form Bárbara.
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ˈbaɾbaɾa/Standard-Tagalog
- [ˌbaɾ.bɐˈɾa]Standard-Tagalog
Bar · ba · ra3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗English
- /ˈbɑɹb(ə)ɹə/General-American
- /ˈbɑːb(ə)ɹə/Received-Pronunciation
Bar · ba · ra3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from Spanish Bárbara.
a female given name from Spanish [in turn from Latin, in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Barbara
Wiktionary: Barbara (Tagalog) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
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.
A female given name from Latin.
Wiktionary: Barbara (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Barbara
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Barbara Perez
Filipino actress
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Barbara Luna
actor
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
4
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Barbara Perez, Barbara Luna
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Barbara in the birth records
Exact spelling, stated year, published top-ten tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Available publications: 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. No 2021 count is inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Related forms & spellings
Related forms may have their own language histories. They are not included in this spelling’s PSA count.
Similar names to Barbara
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Barbra♀Name formation documented in dictionary sources
- Barbero·Recorded Philippine given-name form
- Babai·Recorded Philippine given-name form
- Baldaya·Recorded Philippine given-name form
- Bamba♀Given name recorded in the source dictionary
- Banban♂♀Short form of Giovanni and Bannon
- Bandala·Recorded Philippine given-name form
- Barnabe♂Given name documented in Philippine-linked records; lexical meaning not established here
What rhymes with Barbara?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Barbara further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q153957 — Barbara (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Barbara Perez (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q153957 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Barbara Luna (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q153957 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Barbara (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Barbara (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.