Barb

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 18 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◐

Barb is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Turkish given name439 records spelled Barb3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Canada, United Kingdom

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Bârb

• a separate given name404 records spelled Barb2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Canada

  Also written Bãrb

50 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●

Barb 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.

• In Romanian, iNTA subst. (= berbtrita, berbenita) un fel de putinica, in vechime numele unui impozit. 1. Barbanfa b. (lsp IV) ; loan din Berbinceni (17 A IV 146) ; Barbfnfa, Dr. (17 A II 239). 2. + barbuneu : Bdrbunfa t. 3. Barbanfanu, Preda (AO V 209). Barbunla v. BarbInt a 2.

  as a name·Dictionar Onomastic Rominesc

• In German, weibl. Vom., Kurzform von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Catalan, barbel (freshwater fish of the genus Barbus)

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

• In gv, sharp, drastic

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

• In Breton, barbes, aiguilles (de pin...)

  as a word·Deshayes, Dictionnaire étymologique du breton (2003)

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 33 years between 1938–1972. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Barb Goodwinb. 1949USAmerican politician
• Barb Jungrb. 1954GBUK singer, songwriter and writer
• Barb Yarussob. 1956USAmerican politician
• Barb Bunkowskyb. 1958USprofessional golfer
• Barb Tarboxb. 1961CAAnti-smoking advocate (1961-2003)
• Barb Whiteheadb. 1961USprofessional golfer
• Barb Hendeeb. 1963USAmerican writer
• Barb Morrisonb. 1967USAmerican singer and songwriter
• Barbara Byrumb. 1977USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician
• Barb Honchakb. 1979USAmerican martial artist

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 · 67 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Barb?

We estimate roughly 11 thousand people bear Barb (counting its spellings and scripts) across 1 country in our records.

In which country does Barb have the most bearers?

Barb is most frequently recorded in Canada, where it is most often spelled barb.

How common is Barb compared with other names?

In Canada, Barb is the 558th most common given name of 175,432 given names recorded there.

Is Barb a male or female name?

Barb is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Barb mean?

Recorded meaning: The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted.