Given name & surname
Barbe
“foreign woman”·“a traveler from a foreign land; a stranger”
In French use, Barbe has a related form in Barbara. Interpretations include “foreign woman” and “a traveler from a foreign land; a stranger” (Latin). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
In French use, Barbe has a related form in Barbara. Interpretations include “foreign woman” and “a traveler from a foreign land; a stranger” (Latin). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In French use, Barbe has a related form in Barbara. An origin associated with Barbara is Latin.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1952. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Barbe through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 36
- 0 boys · 36 girls
- Most popular year
- 1952
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 1961. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 12 in 1952. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,083 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Barbe’s family of names
Barbe is a short form of Barbara. In French usage, Barbe shares a linguistic root with the Walloon form Båre. In French usage, Barbe has a conventional equivalent in Bibi.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Barbe has relatives in 7 languages.
16 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 20
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Barbe
- Madame Clicquot PonsardinFrench business person (1777-1866)
- Barbe de Nettineinfluential banker in the Austrian Netherlands.1706–1775
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Barbe, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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