Barbara has been given to about 1,440,831 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1947, which makes it a midcentury name.
Barbara ranks 968th among American girls in 2025, with 264 born that year. Its best year was 1947, when 48,889 babies were given the name, ranking 4th. The typical living American called Barbara is about 76 years old today. It is relatively most common in Pennsylvania, where it accounts for 0.03% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.