Fun Facts About the Name Barabra
- 54 babies named Barabra: U.S. records list 54 babies given the name Barabra from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Barabra Mean?
Barabra is a transposed spelling of the name Barbara and carries the same meaning: "foreign woman," or, in the usual looser reading, "stranger." The root is the Greek word barbaros, which Greeks used for anyone who did not speak Greek. It is an imitative word, echoing the "bar-bar" sound of an unfamiliar language, and it was not originally a personal name at all. Latin adopted it as barbarus, with the feminine form barbara, used as a descriptive word for a foreign woman or for foreign goods. The personal name developed out of that Latin adjective rather than from a separate root.
The literal sense is "foreign" or "barbarian" in the older Greek sense of a non-Greek speaker; the customary sense attached to the name is simply "stranger" or "foreign woman," without the negative force the word once had. No independent etymology is claimed for Barabra beyond this: it is Barbara with the b and r reversed.
Barabra Name History & Origins
Barbara is a Christian martyr venerated in both the Eastern and Western churches. Her story comes from legend rather than contemporary records: she was said to be the daughter of a pagan named Dioscorus, who locked her in a tower; she became a Christian, asked that a third window be added to the tower in honor of the Trinity, and was put to death by her father. Because lightning was said to have struck him dead afterward, she became a patron of people who work with explosives, including artillerymen, miners, and firefighters. Her feast on December 4 was dropped from the general Roman calendar in 1969, though her name remains in the Roman Martyrology.
Veneration of Barbara spread through medieval Europe, and the name was in use in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and England in forms such as Bárbara, Barbe, and Varvara. Barabra is simply that name written with the second and third letters switched. It has no separate feast, patron, or etymology of its own.
Unrelated to the personal name, Barabra and Berabra are also spellings of an Arabic-derived term (barābira) that Egyptians used for the Nubian peoples of the Nile valley, and the word has been applied to their Nubian speech as well. That is an ethnonym, not a given name, and it shares nothing but appearance with Barbara.
How Popular is the Name Barabra?
Barabra 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 1953. Its best rank was #3,841 in 1937.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | #7,561 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1968 | #6,313 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1964 | #6,059 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #6,648 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1961 | #5,897 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1960 | #5,748 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1953 | #4,258 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1943 | #4,235 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1937 | #3,841 | 6 | 0.0006% |
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.
Most Popular Girl Names That Start with B
How the Name Barabra 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 are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Barabra's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Barabra's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.