Vara
Feminine · “Greek barbaros”
Barbara and Varvara are the same name, and the difference between them is a sound change in Greek that happened around fifteen hundred years ago. Vara sits at the end of the second branch, clipped down to two syllables.
How old is the name Vara?
Vara first appears in US birth records in 1887 — 138 years ago. The typical Vara alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 200 people named Vara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vara most popular?
Vara peaked in 1898, reaching #920 nationally. Today it ranks #10107, 9,187 places below that high. See the whole 1898 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Barbara to Vara
The story of Vara
Greek beta was once a b. By late antiquity it had shifted to a v, and it has been a v in Greek ever since. Languages that borrowed Greek names before the shift, chiefly through Latin, got the b: Barbara, Basil, Benjamin. Languages that borrowed them after, chiefly the Slavic ones through Byzantine Christianity, got the v: Varvara, Vasily, Veniamin. The same single letter separates dozens of pairs across Europe, and speakers of the two families routinely fail to recognize that they are using the same name. Vara reaches American records with Central and Eastern European immigration in the decades either side of 1900 as a household short form of Varvara, four letters left of a name that Greek, Latin, Russian and English have each reshaped in turn.
Meaningscholars disagree
Greek barbaros, foreign
Vara is most plausibly a short form of Varvara, the Slavic form of Barbara, from Greek barbaros, a foreigner. It may in some families be Spanish vara, a rod or a unit of length, or a variant of Vera. The peak, in 1898, sits close to the start of the records, so the name's earlier history is not visible.
How the name formed
- Barbara
- Varvara
- Vara
Related forms: Varvara · Varvara · Barbara
Pronouncing Vara
VAR-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Spanish-speaking use the same spelling is said VAH-rah, with a fuller second vowel.
Nicknames for Vara
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
- 1887
- Most girls named
- 192321 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #920reached in 1898
- Change vs 2023
- +50.0%9 in 2025, from 6
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.
Vara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Varvara in Russian — same name
- Varvara in Greek — same name
- Barbara in English — same name
Varas among us
people named Vara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 178,585 born in 2025 was named Vara
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Vara 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
Vara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Vara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, two syllables, and nothing silent.
- It is a genuine short form with a documented full name behind it.
- It works in English, Spanish and Slavic settings without adjustment.
- It is very close to Vera, Lara and Cara in sound.
- The connection to Barbara is invisible to almost everyone.
- It reads as a nickname rather than a formal name.
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What they receive
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Vara
Feminine · #10107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Varas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Vara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vara in 2025?
- Vara ranks #10107 among US girl names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Vara?
- About 1 in every 178,585 US girls born in 2025 was named Vara — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Vara with classmates?
- Vara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Vara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Berta#10107 · Jettie#10107 · Maye#10107 · Osa#10107 · Fidelia#10107 · Alysa#10107 · Su#10107 · Willie#10107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Vara? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Vara and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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