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Barbara Name Popularity

    

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How popular is Barbara?

The less frequently given name Barbara was the 930th Most Popular Girls Name in the United States in 2018.

This top 1000 contender has enjoyed a rank in the top 1000 since 1880, when the Social Security Administration began keeping records.

It reached its highest popularity RANKING of #2 for the first time in 1937 and as recently as 1944.

Nonetheless, the name was given to the greatest number of children in 1947 with 48,792 occurrences.

In any year, the least number of babies named Barbara was 127 in 1880.

Approximately during the years 1885-1888, 1904-1907, and 1908-1938, the name Barbara took a definitive turn upwards in popularity whereas unequivocal downward movement occurred about 1948-1978, 1980-1986, and 1987-1996.

Where is the name Barbara popularity headed?

Currently, the name is at an extremely low point when compared to its most popular year.

Barbara's popularity has steadily decreased for some time. Of late however, the number of parents selecting the name Barbara for their newborn has remained about the same.

The name Barbara is used by only a select few and has recently started to plateu at its present level but may also begin to make a more decisive move up or down.

Relative to what it once was, Barbara is very rarely used as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

 
Mouse over or Click for Percentages.
   Barbara (Girl)Barbara (Boy)
Year %No. of Babies Given NamePopul. RankNo. of Babies Given NamePopul. Rank
2018 285 930 < 5 --
2017 296 902 < 5 --
2016 328 855 < 5 --
2015 324 860 < 5 --
2014 321 856 < 5 --
2013 315 835 < 5 --
2012 295 893 < 5 --
2011 365 754 < 5 --
2010 406 701 < 5 --
2009 459 644 < 5 --
2008 395 749 < 5 --
2007 476 627 < 5 --
2006 543 544 < 5 --
2005 400 691 < 5 --
2004 427 638 < 5 --
2003 431 622 < 5 --
2002 494 552 < 5 --
2001 490 542 < 5 --
2000 526 507 < 5 --
1999 556 471 < 5 --
1998 572 449 < 5 --
1997 694 381 < 5 --
1996 679 389 < 5 --
1995 753 348 < 5 --
1994 871 312 < 5 --
1993 950 291 5 8,818
1992 1,125 247 7 6,729
1991 1,239 229 9 5,553
1990 1,388 207 5 8,222
1989 1,494 186 10 4,842
1988 1,504 185 9 4,815
1987 1,632 172 9 4,596
1986 1,487 181 8 4,883
1985 1,675 169 11 3,822
1984 1,865 152 18 2,620
1983 2,019 143 9 4,156
1982 2,346 130 11 3,705
1981 2,530 119 13 3,235
1980 2,577 120 13 3,274
1979 2,491 123 15 2,915
1978 2,581 113 8 4,183
1977 2,843 101 17 2,564
1976 2,972 97 9 3,744
1975 3,453 83 18 2,371
1974 3,905 77 12 2,962
1973 4,437 63 11 3,033
1972 5,080 58 22 1,933
1971 6,451 47 27 1,710
1970 8,026 41 24 1,802
1969 8,808 39 31 1,438
1968 9,744 36 34 1,315
1967 11,204 33 43 1,134
1966 13,123 27 45 1,102
1965 14,026 25 42 1,161
1964 16,479 19 49 1,082
1963 18,291 17 64 936
1962 20,640 14 76 869
1961 22,992 12 56 1,043
1960 24,445 12 64 944
1959 25,356 11 67 940
1958 27,875 9 59 991
1957 29,687 9 68 919
1956 32,298 9 76 860
1955 33,605 7 80 816
1954 36,370 7 57 984
1953 38,472 6 72 847
1952 39,865 6 74 813
1951 40,620 5 70 838
1950 41,552 4 70 814
1949 42,601 4 67 836
1948 46,826 3 76 782
1947 48,792 4 89 727
1946 45,122 4 109 615
1945 38,276 3 87 649
1944 39,197 2 121 549
1943 43,429 2 150 506
1942 44,734 2 164 478
1941 39,538 2 155 473
1940 36,734 2 140 489
1939 37,258 2 150 468
1938 39,279 2 162 454
1937 34,912 2 144 468
1936 31,682 3 110 547
1935 30,696 3 124 517
1934 29,234 3 118 543
1933 26,951 3 119 519
1932 26,314 3 103 583
1931 21,797 4 84 649
1930 18,281 6 74 738
1929 16,037 7 63 816
1928 14,873 8 44 1,042
1927 13,161 10 41 1,113
1926 11,080 16 35 1,222
1925 9,155 22 26 1,452
1924 8,306 28 12 2,483
1923 7,208 33 10 2,782
1922 6,273 40 10 2,815
1921 6,014 40 11 2,647
1920 5,106 47 9 2,983
1919 4,084 60 7 3,425
1918 4,224 60 7 3,394
1917 3,535 67 6 3,586
1916 3,112 74 5 3,948
1915 2,704 83 < 5 --
1914 2,061 82 < 5 --
1913 1,451 94 7 2,293
1912 1,184 102 < 5 --
1911 737 119 < 5 --
1910 612 136 < 5 --
1909 567 126 < 5 --
1908 514 135 < 5 --
1907 515 129 < 5 --
1906 413 142 < 5 --
1905 366 154 < 5 --
1904 357 151 < 5 --
1903 346 151 < 5 --
1902 306 163 < 5 --
1901 277 164 < 5 --
1900 340 162 < 5 --
1899 273 165 < 5 --
1898 304 164 < 5 --
1897 299 153 < 5 --
1896 324 145 < 5 --
1895 298 150 < 5 --
1894 290 151 < 5 --
1893 255 155 < 5 --
1892 278 147 < 5 --
1891 221 152 < 5 --
1890 241 147 < 5 --
1889 246 140 < 5 --
1888 253 135 < 5 --
1887 204 132 < 5 --
1886 207 133 < 5 --
1885 195 129 < 5 --
1884 193 128 < 5 --
1883 135 142 < 5 --
1882 130 138 < 5 --
1881 130 124 < 5 --
1880 127 128 < 5 --

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.