I don't know any Barbaras and have never met any. The only vague associations I have with it are
Barbara Castlemaine,
Charles II's mistress, and the colour gold. So I think of magnificent barbaric powerful shiny ladies with red hair, wearing cloth of gold, and I quite like the name.
Barbie and
Babs, though? Puketastic. That would definitely have put me off using it when they were popular. Someone suggested
Bara as an nn - might have been
Sofia - much nicer.