Barnabas
Masculine · “son of encouragement”
Barnabas is an Aramaic name that the book of Acts stops to translate: son of encouragement, given to a man who kept vouching for people nobody else would.
How old is the name Barnabas?
Barnabas first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Barnabas alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 600 people named Barnabas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Barnabas most popular?
Barnabas peaked in 1969, reaching #2861 nationally. Today it ranks #3658, 797 places below that high. See the whole 1969 chart.
Where it comes from
From Bar-Nabba to Barnabas
The story of Barnabas
Barnabas is the man who vouches for Paul when the Jerusalem community will not have him, and who later takes Mark on his own journey after Paul refuses to. Both are acts of exactly the kind his name describes. English Protestants took the name up after the Reformation and it was well used in England and America; the diminutive Barney comes from it.
Meaning
son of encouragement
Acts gives the name to Joseph of Cyprus and glosses it as son of encouragement or consolation; the bar is Aramaic for son, and the second element is generally read from a root for prophecy or exhortation.
How the name formed
- Bar-Nabba
- Barnabas
Related forms: Barnabas · Bernabé · Barnaba · Barnabas
Pronouncing Barnabas
BAR-nuh-bus
Three syllables, first stressed. Spanish Bernabé stresses the last.
Nicknames for Barnabas
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1920
- Most boys named
- 202530 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2861reached in 1969
- Change vs 2024
- +36.4%30 in 2025, from 22
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Barnabas in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Barnabas in Greek — same name
- Bernabé in Spanish — same name
- Barnaba in Italian — same name
- Barnabas in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Barnabass among us
people named Barnabas are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 56,936 born in 2025 was named Barnabas
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Corley test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Barnabas's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Corley climbed just as high around 1944, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Corley's path sketches the road Barnabas is walking now.
Barnabas sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Barnabas is headed
Barnabas should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Barnabas beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Barnabas in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning glossed in the text itself, which very few names can claim.
- The story attached to it is genuinely admirable and easy to tell.
- Barney is a warm short form with centuries of English use.
- Barney is now strongly associated with a purple children's dinosaur.
- Eight letters and three syllables is a fair amount for early handwriting.
- It reads as distinctly old-fashioned to most Americans.
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What they receive
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Barnabas
Masculine · #3658 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Barnabass are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Barnabas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Barnabas in 2025?
- Barnabas ranks #3658 among US boy names in 2025, with 30 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Barnabas?
- About 1 in every 56,936 US boys born in 2025 was named Barnabas — 30 in all.
- Will my child share the name Barnabas with classmates?
- Barnabas will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Barnabas
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jimmie#3658 · Mckinley#3658 · Menno#3658 · Claudio#3658 · Ezekial#3658 · Brandt#3658 · Benuel#3658 · Gustav#3658
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Barnabas? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Barnabas and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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