Fun Facts About the Name Barbe
- 36 babies named Barbe: U.S. records list 36 babies given the name Barbe from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Barbe Mean?
Barbe is the French feminine form of Barbara. The name comes through Latin Barbara from Greek barbaros, a word that originally imitated the sound of a non-Greek speaker's language ("bar-bar") and meant "foreign" or "non-Greek." The feminine Greek form barbara meant "foreign woman" or "stranger," and that is the customary meaning of the name. The French common noun barbe, meaning "beard," comes from Latin barba and is not related to the given name, despite the identical spelling.
Barbe Name History & Origins
The name reached French through Christian Latin Barbara, the name of a legendary early martyr, Saint Barbara. Her cult spread widely in medieval Europe, and Barbe became a French form of her name. Churches and chapels dedicated to Sainte Barbe, along with her traditional role as a patron of miners, helped keep the name familiar in France and French-speaking regions. In medieval and early modern French records, Barbe appears as a given name; the same spelling also served as a surname and as the ordinary French word for "beard." The international form Barbara is also used in French, while Barbe remains in older records and in the names of churches and places dedicated to the saint.
How Popular is the Name Barbe?
Barbe 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 1952. Its best rank was #3,215 in 1952.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | #5,898 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1960 | #6,440 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1959 | #5,608 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1953 | #4,617 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1952 | #3,215 | 12 | 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
Short Girl Names That Start with B
How the Name Barbe 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 always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Barbe's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Barbe's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.