Explore the Family Name Barbara

The meaning of Barbara

1. Italian, English, and West Indian (Dutch Caribbean); Spanish and Portuguese (Bárbara): from the female personal name Barbara, which was borne by a popular Christian saint, who according to legend was imprisoned in a tower and later put to death by her own father for refusing to recant her Christian beliefs. The name comes from the feminine form of Latin barbarus, Greek barbaros ‘foreign(er)’ (originally an onomatopoeic word formed in imitation of the unintelligible babbling of non-Greeks). As a West Indian surname it reflects the partially mother-oriented name culture of the formerly enslaved people of the West Indies (compare Martina). 2. Catalan (Barbarà): variant of Barberà (see Barbera). Some characteristic forenames: Italian Salvatore, Mario, Carlo, Francesco, Caesar, Domenic, Giuseppe, Rosaria, Sal, Santo, Vito. Spanish Jose, Ana, Andres, Eloy, Jorge, Leticia, Lourdes, Luis, Manuel.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Barbara in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Barbara has experienced a slight shift in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the name fell from 10,548 in 2000 to 10,704 in 2010, marking a decrease of 1.48%. Despite this drop in ranking, the actual count of individuals with the Barbara surname increased by 7.03%, from 2,790 people in 2000 to 2,986 in 2010. However, when considering the proportion per 100,000 people, there was a marginal decline of 1.94% in the same time span.

20002010Change
Rank#10,548#10,704-1.48%
Count2,7902,9867.03%
Proportion per 100k1.031.01-1.94%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Barbara

As for ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some significant shifts within the Barbara surname population between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native saw increases, with the former surging by 137.97% and the latter by 60.00%. The white demographic also rose slightly by 2.31%, making up 78.70% of those with the Barbara surname in 2010. On the other hand, the Hispanic segment dropped significantly by 29.35%, while the two or more races category decreased by 25.77%. The percentage of black individuals who carry the Barbara surname grew by 14.21%.

20002010Change
White76.92%78.7%2.31%
Black7.74%8.84%14.21%
Hispanic12.37%8.74%-29.35%
Asian/Pacific Islander0.79%1.88%137.97%
Two or More Races1.94%1.44%-25.77%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.25%0.4%60%

Barbara ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Barbara is Italian, which comprises 26.0% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are British & Irish (24.5%) and French & German (16.6%). Additional ancestries include Eastern European, Spanish & Portuguese, Scandinavian, Indigenous American, and Levantine.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
Italian26.0%
British & Irish24.5%
French & German16.6%
Other32.8%
Barbara

Possible origins of the surname Barbara

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Barbara have recent ancestry locations spanning a few countries, mostly in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
Merseyside, United Kingdom48.60%
Greater London, United Kingdom48.60%
Glasgow City, United Kingdom48.60%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom47.10%
West Midlands, United Kingdom47.10%

What Barbara haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Barbara is O-F2415, which is predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Haplogroup O-F2415 is descended from haplogroup O-M1359. Other common haplogroups include E-M183 and O-F2859, which are predominantly found among people with European and East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Barbara surname are: H1, N, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

barbaraPaternal Haplogroup Origins O-M1359
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to the Cham

One of the many populations harboring members of haplogroup O1b1a1a1a1 is the Cham ethnic group, a group of people who speak Austronesian languages in Mainland Southeast Asia. Austronesian languages make up a language family that is extremely large and widespread, comprising over 350 million people on islands such as Madagascar, Easter Island, and many others. However, Austronesian languages are less common on mainland Asia, with a notable exception being the Chamic language. Research suggests that ancestors of the Cham people migrated from Southeast Asian islands to the mainland around the year 500 BCE, and that early Cham populations quickly began mixing with indigenous southern Vietnamese populations. As a result, the Chamic language now has words that were borrowed from languages spoken by indigenous Vietnamese people. It is likely that an ancestral Kinh population was one of the populations that mixed with the Cham people shortly after their migration to mainland Asia.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette

Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Barbara have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Barbara

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Barbara" Surname 40.0%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Wellness

Barbara

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Barbara" Surname 22.6%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Barbara?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Barbara are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Italian 58.3%

23andMe Users 57.2%