Barbra

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Barbra

Gender: Feminine
Language: English
Etymology:
Barbra is an English, contracted form of the name Barbara. Barbara is the English form of a Greek name which means “Foreign,” from the word “barbaros” (also the origin of the word “barbarian”).

History:
Barbra is a contracted form of the name Barbara. A Dictionary of First Names (Hanks and Hodges, 1990) refers to it as a “modish” spelling.

Barbra first appeared in any great numbers in the 1930s. Several other contracted names also became popular at this time, such as Debra from Deborah, and Kathryn from Katherine. Barbara was a very popular name in the thirties and forties.

However, its parent name Barbara began to slowly decline in the 1960s, and the variant Barbra disappeared.

It was briefly kept alive by singer Barbra Streisand, who won a grammy for The Barbara Streisand Album in 1963.

Please see Barbara for more information.

Pronunciation: barr-bra.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.015 % named Barbra

Popularity of Barbra:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1880-1881: N/A
1882: 908th most popular.
1883-1930: N/A
1931: 954th most popular.
1932: 964th most popular.
1933: 777th most popular.
1934: 865th most popular.
1935: 769th most popular.
1936: 738th most popular.
1937: 733rd most popular.
1938: 725th most popular.
1939: 681st most popular.
1940: 664th most popular.
1941: 766th most popular.
1942: 866th most popular.
1943: 799th most popular.
1944: 804th most popular.
1945: 797th most popular.
1946: 822nd most popular.
1947: 765th most popular.
1948: 631st most popular.
1949: 592nd most popular.
1950: 576th most popular. - Peak!
1951: 588th most popular.
1952: 656th most popular.
1953: 632nd most popular.
1954: 812th most popular.
1955: 735th most popular.
1956: 865th most popular.
1957: 826th most popular.
1958: 868th most popular.
1959: 872nd most popular.
1960: 887th most popular.
1961: 956th most popular.
1962: 927th most popular.
1963: N/A - The Barbra Streisand Album wins a Grammy.
1964: 820th most popular.
1965: 639th most popular.
1966: 511th most popular.
1967: 600th most popular.
1968: 697th most popular.
1969: 698th most popular.
1970: 737th most popular.
1971: 839th most popular.
1972-2004: N/A

Selected Sources:
A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, 1990
The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Pickering, 1999

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 (www.ssa.gov) - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880, and other information (it is available on-line at www.familysearch.org)