Bara

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 21 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bara is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Serbian name37K records spelled Bara20 spellings in the group

  Also written Бара, Barra, Bàra, Bára, Bará

• French given name21K records spelled Bara17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France

  Also written Bára, Bâřā, Bàrà, Bará, Bârà

• English given name20K records spelled Bara15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Sweden, United Kingdom

  Also written Bára, Bara', Barâ, Barà, Barā

• a separate name18K records spelled Bara11 spellings in the group

  Also written Bāra, Băra, Bára, Barā, Bǎra

• Arabic given name18K records spelled Bara9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan

  Also written Bara', Bârâ, Bar'A, Bara’, Bàrà

• Spanish surname13K records spelled Bara28 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Barã, Bará, Barà, Bãrã, Bára

• Indonesian name6.3K records spelled Bara8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia

  Also written Bâŕã, Bãřã, Bará, Bara', Bára

• Polish name5.9K records spelled Bara4 spellings in the group

  Also written Bára, Bāra, Barà

70 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bara is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• locative name from Bara, the name of an ancient manor and parish in E Lothian, recorded as Barewe and Berewe in the early 13th century (Saint Andrews Charters).

  as a name·The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland

• In English, Tiieda, US actress

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• to choose.

  as a name·African Names

• In men, and inér., to miss one’s aim. ‘Tibara peléi ma, They missed the road

  as a word·Vocabulary of the Mende Language

• In English, A genre of homoerotic media, usually also pornographic, typically created by gay men and targeted at gay men in Japan.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 92 years between 1916–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Joseph Barrab. 1779FRnot in their usual nameFrench soldier
• Jules Barab. 1835BEBelgian politician (1835-1900)
• Theda Barab. 1885USAmerican actress (1885–1955)
• Margit Barab. 1928HUHungarian actress (1928-2016)
• Tina Barab. 1962DEGerman photographer (born 1962)
• Céline Barab. 1978FRFrench pornographic actress
• Micaela Barab. 1984DEGerman actress
• Bára Gísladóttirb. 1989ISIcelandic musician and composer
• Irina Maria Barab. 1995RORomanian tennis player
• Bara Sapoko Ndiayeb. 2007SNSenegalese footballer (born 2007)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 348 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bara?

Our records include 1,763,867 bearers of Bara across 5 countries — a sample of the full distribution.

In which country does Bara have the most bearers?

Bara is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled bara.

What does the name Bara mean?

Recorded meaning: Madagascar ethnic group; Kiswahili: 'continent, mainland'; Hebrew female name: 'to choose'