Barbara comes from the Greek barbaros and means "foreign woman" or "stranger", the word Greeks used for anyone who did not speak their language. Saint Barbara, a legendary early martyr, is the patron of miners and artillerymen, and in America the name was a top 10 fixture from the 1920s to the 1950s, worn by Barbara Bush, Barbra Streisand and Barbara Walters. Barbara stood at number 505 in 2000, has stayed in the US top 1000 ever since and ranks number 968 in 2025.