first name
BARBARA
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 943,006 people named Barbara, 84.4% reported their origin as White, 9.4% as Black and 3.6% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Barbara peaked in 1947, when 48,889 babies got the name.
At least 1,440,831 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Barbara by decade
Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #9 in every decade from the 1930s to the 1940s. The largest share of babies named Barbara, 44%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Barbara is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Barbara has been most common in District of Columbia (1.8×), Rhode Island (1.6×), and Vermont (1.6×), and least common in Nevada (0.3×).
1,427,763 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Barbara
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Barbara, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Barbara ranks #13,468 of 156,621, with 2,161 people. See Barbara as a last name
Compare
🔎 BARBARA 🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 320 Americans More common than 84.6% of us Peaked in 1947 with 48,889 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/barbara/