Barbra
Barbra was last recorded in 2014, when 5 babies were given it; 7,758 Americans have been recorded with it between 1882 and 2014 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,620 Americans named Barbra and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (72% of everyone recorded); the median is 61 years old and half are between 54 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Barbra by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Barbra mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Barbra is “a female given name from Latin, a nonstandard spelling of Barbara. Associated with Barbra Streisand, who changed the spelling of her name from Barbara.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Barbra?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #16,950, in 2014; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
343 babies in 1966, the peak
Barbra peaked in 1966, when 343 girls were given it, #512 among girls’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 5 | #16,950 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 5 | #16,943 | under 0.01 |
| 2010 | 5 | #17,415 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 6 | #15,521 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 5 | #17,926 | under 0.01 |
| 2007 | 5 | #18,025 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 9 | #11,579 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 12 | #8,795 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 8 | #11,461 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 7 | #12,376 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (104)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 9 | #10,213 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 11 | #8,619 | 0.01 |
| 1999 | 14 | #6,870 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 11 | #8,064 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 17 | #5,656 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 12 | #7,185 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 30 | #3,590 | 0.02 |
| 1994 | 17 | #5,467 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 7 | #10,723 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 23 | #4,386 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 24 | #4,208 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 32 | #3,368 | 0.02 |
| 1989 | 38 | #2,874 | 0.02 |
| 1988 | 42 | #2,539 | 0.02 |
| 1987 | 32 | #2,973 | 0.02 |
| 1986 | 34 | #2,783 | 0.02 |
| 1985 | 34 | #2,752 | 0.02 |
| 1984 | 47 | #2,116 | 0.03 |
| 1983 | 53 | #1,927 | 0.03 |
| 1982 | 71 | #1,621 | 0.04 |
| 1981 | 77 | #1,550 | 0.05 |
| 1980 | 86 | #1,420 | 0.05 |
| 1979 | 70 | #1,608 | 0.04 |
| 1978 | 80 | #1,435 | 0.05 |
| 1977 | 104 | #1,183 | 0.07 |
| 1976 | 74 | #1,423 | 0.05 |
| 1975 | 94 | #1,219 | 0.06 |
| 1974 | 108 | #1,083 | 0.07 |
| 1973 | 110 | #1,054 | 0.08 |
| 1972 | 113 | #1,031 | 0.07 |
| 1971 | 164 | #836 | 0.10 |
| 1970 | 199 | #741 | 0.11 |
| 1969 | 201 | #701 | 0.12 |
| 1968 | 195 | #694 | 0.12 |
| 1967 | 251 | #601 | 0.15 |
| 1966 | 343 | #512 | 0.20 |
| 1965 | 236 | #639 | 0.13 |
| 1964 | 163 | #821 | 0.09 |
| 1963 | 105 | #1,048 | 0.05 |
| 1962 | 128 | #939 | 0.07 |
| 1961 | 130 | #947 | 0.06 |
| 1960 | 138 | #893 | 0.07 |
| 1959 | 140 | #870 | 0.07 |
| 1958 | 136 | #874 | 0.07 |
| 1957 | 150 | #826 | 0.07 |
| 1956 | 134 | #860 | 0.07 |
| 1955 | 165 | #737 | 0.08 |
| 1954 | 134 | #811 | 0.07 |
| 1953 | 200 | #627 | 0.11 |
| 1952 | 185 | #655 | 0.10 |
| 1951 | 212 | #591 | 0.12 |
| 1950 | 209 | #577 | 0.12 |
| 1949 | 194 | #595 | 0.11 |
| 1948 | 174 | #624 | 0.10 |
| 1947 | 124 | #771 | 0.07 |
| 1946 | 102 | #817 | 0.06 |
| 1945 | 90 | #790 | 0.07 |
| 1944 | 90 | #805 | 0.07 |
| 1943 | 92 | #801 | 0.07 |
| 1942 | 80 | #860 | 0.06 |
| 1941 | 86 | #779 | 0.07 |
| 1940 | 110 | #661 | 0.10 |
| 1939 | 99 | #680 | 0.09 |
| 1938 | 89 | #724 | 0.08 |
| 1937 | 85 | #734 | 0.08 |
| 1936 | 81 | #739 | 0.08 |
| 1935 | 78 | #767 | 0.07 |
| 1934 | 62 | #865 | 0.06 |
| 1933 | 71 | #782 | 0.07 |
| 1932 | 56 | #943 | 0.05 |
| 1931 | 52 | #960 | 0.05 |
| 1930 | 47 | #1,073 | 0.04 |
| 1929 | 52 | #1,003 | 0.05 |
| 1928 | 31 | #1,396 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 42 | #1,195 | 0.04 |
| 1926 | 32 | #1,416 | 0.03 |
| 1925 | 30 | #1,509 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 24 | #1,775 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 32 | #1,433 | 0.03 |
| 1922 | 25 | #1,688 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 31 | #1,482 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 12 | #2,741 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 19 | #1,925 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 15 | #2,296 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 14 | #2,323 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 18 | #1,874 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 13 | #2,263 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 9 | #2,454 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 10 | #2,039 | 0.02 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,660 | 0.01 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,977 | 0.02 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,960 | 0.02 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,728 | 0.02 |
| 1882 | 5 | #920 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Barbra a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Barbra has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 104 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Barbra: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Barbra, and how old are they?
5,620 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 72% of the 7,758 Americans ever recorded as Barbra. The median Barbra alive today is 61 years old; half are between 54 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 12,020 people named Barbra (11,997 women and girls, 23 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 6,149 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.0 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 452 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 2,250 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,230 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 555 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 118 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 10 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Barbra born?
The states with the most babies named Barbra are New York, California and Texas, with 34% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 515 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| California | 451 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Texas | 387 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 341 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 331 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 310 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 203 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Mississippi | 120 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Florida | 117 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Kentucky | 96 | not ranked | 0.6× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Barbra with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 1,448,988 babies since 1880, Barbra is the second most given (<1% of them). In 2025 none of their 264 babies recorded by SSA was a Barbra (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Barbra
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Barbra and names like it
- Compare Barbra and BarbaraBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sBarbra peaked in 1966.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Barbra since 1910.
- The top names of 1966The year the most babies were named Barbra.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Barbra alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.