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I've been thinking a lot about Barbara because last semester I had a Ukrainian student named Varvara who requested that I call her Barbara. Uttering the name every week made me appreciate its sonic richness, and this student was superlative, so now I have positive associations with the name. Plus, Babs, Babe, Bara, and maybe even Barrie are cute nicknames!
It's been growing on me, honestly. I don't think I would use it myself, but I won't be surprised or upset if it ends up getting a trendy revival in the next decade or so.
It is dated.
It is nice, I don't see why people dislike it.
This renders an immediate repulsed reaction from me.
Barbara is an emphatically dated and UGLY name. I don't like it and can't imagine it on a child. A name best left in the past.
Barbara is an emphatically dated and UGLY name. I don't like it and can't imagine it on a child. A name best left in the past.
I used to hate it, but actually it's edgy. It's familiar yet uncommon and B or Bea as a nickname is super cute.
Hi !!!
One of the ugliest names ever.
Horrible sound and even worse and offensive meaning.
One of the ugliest names ever.
Horrible sound and even worse and offensive meaning.
Before I begin, I want to apologize to our poster named Barbra, because I of course like YOU. But I loathe and despise your screen name, as well as the more common Barbara spelling.
There is absolutely nothing redeeming about the name, imo, from the clunky sound, to the odd meaning, to the awful nicknames.
There is absolutely nothing redeeming about the name, imo, from the clunky sound, to the odd meaning, to the awful nicknames.
Thank you for the kind note - that of the introductory disclaimer.
Ugh, it's one of my most despised names ever. It doesn't help that it was the name of my father's first wife and she was one of my most despised people ever. But I don't think I'd like it anyway. It's so harsh and I don't find the syllable "Bar" to be attractive once, let alone immediately repeated.
It was certainly popular in the US for a long time, though. My father's first wife was about thirty years older than I, and forty to fifty years after she was born there were quite a few girls named Barbara in my high school class.
It was certainly popular in the US for a long time, though. My father's first wife was about thirty years older than I, and forty to fifty years after she was born there were quite a few girls named Barbara in my high school class.
I despise my father's (second) wife - I always have, but I actually like & enjoy her first name.
It's very dated to me. I also find it a bit homely. It just consists out of three different letters and it doesn't have the nicest sound. However, I know a cool person named Barbara and I think in its full form it's so clunky that it's kind of cool. I just really hate all of its nicknames: Barb, Barbie etc. Saint Barbara is a nice association and it is strong and dignified. So I wouldn't mind meeting more young Barbaras :) The meaning is kind of weird but it is a name with a lot of history.