US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025
Barbara: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Barbara for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Barbara was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 32 years, between 1927 and 1958, reaching #2. Births peaked in 1947, when 48,800 baby girls were named Barbara, so by peak year it is a Baby Boomers name.
Barbara in the US top 10, by year
Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Barbara (1947).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Greatest Generation | 1 (1927) | #10 |
| Silent Generation | 18 (1928–1945) | #2 |
| Baby Boomers | 13 (1946–1958) | #3 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name Barbara most popular?
By number of babies, in 1947, when 48,800 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #2 and spent 32 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Barbara?
Its peak year, 1947, falls in Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Its 32 top-10 years fall in: Greatest Generation (1), Silent Generation (18), Baby Boomers (13).
How many people have been named Barbara?
SSA counted 1,436,695 girls named Barbara born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Barbara are alive today.