Fun Facts About the Name Babs
- 285 babies named Babs: U.S. records list 285 babies given the name Babs from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Babs Mean?
Babs is an English short form of Barbara and shares its meaning: "foreign woman" or "stranger." Barbara reached English through Latin Barbara, which was taken from Greek Barbara, the feminine form of barbaros. In Greek, barbaros first described a person who did not speak Greek, and the word is usually explained as imitating the sound of unfamiliar speech ("bar-bar"), so its sense was "foreign" or "non-Greek." The feminine name therefore means literally "foreign woman." This is a statement about origin and language, not about a person's character.
Babs itself is not a separate coinage with its own root. It clips Barbara to its first syllable and adds the -s ending that English often attaches to familiar short names.
Babs Name History & Origins
English has a long habit of making one-syllable pet names by shortening a longer name, sometimes with a final -s sound. Babs fits that pattern, formed from the first part of Barbara, just as Tess is formed from Theresa and Bets from Elizabeth. Such short forms were everyday bynames in English-speaking communities, used alongside the full baptismal name rather than instead of it.
The fuller name behind it, Barbara, spread through Christian Europe because of Saint Barbara, a martyr of late antiquity whose cult was widespread in the Middle Ages; she was counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers. From Latin and the medieval church the name passed into the languages of western Europe, and it appears in English records of the Middle Ages. The short form Babs belongs to the informal layer of that tradition rather than to official records.
In modern use Babs functions both as a nickname for women named Barbara and, less often, as a given name in its own right. It is also occasionally used for Babette, a French pet form of Barbara (and sometimes of Elisabeth). Familiar bearers of the nickname include the singer Barbra Streisand, and the name appears in popular culture in characters such as Babs Bunny of Tiny Toon Adventures and Babs the hen in the film Chicken Run. These uses show the name's informal, affectionate tone; they are not the source of the name.
How Popular is the Name Babs?
Babs has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1961. Its best rank was #2,552 in 1933.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | #5,930 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #3,610 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1961 | #2,841 | 19 | 0.0009% |
| 1960 | #4,200 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1959 | #5,068 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1958 | #3,941 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1957 | #4,221 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1954 | #3,336 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1953 | #5,083 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1952 | #4,150 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1950 | #4,775 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1949 | #2,858 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1948 | #4,227 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1947 | #4,378 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1946 | #3,687 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1945 | #2,931 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1944 | #3,397 | 8 | 0.0006% |
| 1943 | #3,514 | 8 | 0.0006% |
| 1942 | #2,831 | 11 | 0.0008% |
| 1941 | #3,046 | 9 | 0.0007% |
| 1940 | #2,751 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1938 | #2,747 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1937 | #2,582 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1936 | #2,879 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1934 | #3,475 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1933 | #2,552 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1932 | #4,480 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1931 | #2,593 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1930 | #4,616 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1929 | #4,108 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1928 | #3,782 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1927 | #4,349 | 6 | 0.0005% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Babs Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You find the best contentment in life when you own your own home and provide well for your family and loved ones. You have a great sense of responsibility and duty. You are comforting, appreciative and affectionate. Your obligation in life is to hold justice and truth, and if you follow the Law, you can find the great happiness and satisfaction.
✦ Babs's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Babs's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.