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It's quite long so probably would be shortened to something.

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Barney does seem like the obvious nickname, but there might be other options. If you dislike Barney I might avoid Barnabas.

Don't like Barney, so that puts me off using both Barnabus and Barnaby, because I cannot imagine a bearer going through life without being called Barney. Seriously.

I do quite like the name, but prefer Barnaby. Barnabas probably would get called Barney I think. Definitely would here in Australia, where we tend to shorten everything!

I'm mad for Barnaby, so Barnabas gets to ride on his coattails into my heart. Barnabas has a quirky charm but still demands respect. That's a tough balancing act but he does it well.

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Barney is certainly the obvious nn. If you truly hate it then I would reluctantly advise you to find another name. You can't control what your little Barnabas wants to be called when he's older.

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But if you don't mind Barney that much and are willing to take a gamble, then I can see you using Barnabas and using a more creative nn like Barnaby, Arnie or, um, Bear, say. ;-)

This message was edited 11/15/2011, 1:43 PM

I like Barnaby better, but Barnabas is nice as well. I do think Barney would be hard to avoid with both names. Other nickname options: Bas and Barnes, which I see have been mentioned, B or Abby, which I would use but probably make more sense for Barnaby.

I fell in love with it at some point last year. It's so huggable and nice, but has a smart little edge to it. I'm sure I have some good combos, but of course I'm away from home and my computer! I'm sure a Barnabas would get Barney attempts, but they're not hard to squelch if you don't want it to be used (and I wouldn't).

I love Barnabas! I'm don't know if Barney is avoidable but I don't think it's that bad. It's actually kinda cool since Barney Stinson, isn't it?

Definitely avoidable in my opinion but then I believe that no name is destined to be shorented to a certain nickname, not even Alexander nn Alex.
I'm not a fan of Barney. Personally, I would probably use Bas.

Nn could be Abe, but it's a bit of a stretch.

I love Barnaby, but for some inexplicable reason Barnabas just doesn't do it for me the way that Barnaby does. It makes absolutely no sense, but there it is. Barnabas isn't bad, though, and I would be happy to see a young Barnabas.

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I think it would be very hard to avoid having it shortened to Barney (same with Barnaby), and I agree that I'm not especially fond of Barney. I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone can think of a good alternative nickname that could stave off Barney, because I've been trying and I haven't come up with one yet.

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EDIT: What about Baz, like is sometimes used for Basil or Sebastian?

This message was edited 11/15/2011, 11:59 AM

Hmmm

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I'm on the fence. I do think Barnabas is fantastic!! But I find Barney repulsive. And it seems a little unavoidable, somehow. Unless you just use Barn or Barns, but those aren't that great either. I want to be convinced, so I'll be checking other responses to see if anyone else has a good solution. :)