Could Barbara work as an honour name?

Barbarella is another cute alternative the 60s shop

A lot of names that were considered dated have come back, so why not? But if you're unsure, do it as a middle.

It might be due a come back. Barbie for short 😊

My friend has just chosen the name Mildred … for her cat!

I know two Barbaras that really hate their name. One Barb and one Babs. I would check that Barb likes her name first.

Edgy creative younger friends have a baby Barbara.. It's joyful!

If you do it you’ll be ahead of the trend- I’m certain Barbara will come back in the next decade or so. I know two woman who seriously considered it for their daughters (both in the last couple of years).

I like it. Barbara is my mum's best friend. They are 89. I''m 65 and knew two Barbaras of my age. All three Barbaras are among the nicest people I have known.

Mum's friends were/are: Anita, Marian, Patricia, Shirley, Joan, Silvia, probably all due a come back.

Who'd have thought: Nell, Martha, Mabel, Flo, Edith, Ivy, etc, would have come back.

DD has a friend Barbara who is a teenager, DH has a relative called Barbara who is in her 50s, and I had a Great Aunt who would be in her 120s if she was still alive. Obviously it was very popular in the 50s and 60s but it's not a single generation name.

This is a very odd attitude since names tend to go in and out of fashion and you will end up with people of all ages with the same name. My grandmother's name was Lily, it wasn't uncommon in her generation. My mum had a great aunt called Phoebe which she always thought was an old-fashioned name, but we come across baby Phoebes all the time! By far the most common name we come across at baby groups is Mabel, hardly a name that you would primarily have associated with babies, especially before the last few years.

With all the old names coming back, naming after grandparents, I bet it won't be long till Barbara makes a come back too along with other names of that era like Carol and Maureen. It's does sound dated now but if that person is special to you, why not? I had a friend whose middle name was Barbara because apparently it was tradition in their family to always give the mothers name as the first born daughters middle name, her brother also bore his fathers name as his middle name.

I know a Barbara that was born int he 70s she despises her name and uses her middle name on everything - hers was also an honour name and she said it was old fashioned then.
honestly for me it’s not one of those names that will come back as it’s just not a particularly nice name - I can’t imagine using it for a child

It will come back into fashion, most names do.
I remember being aghast in the 80s that someone i knew called their son Alfie az it was a family name. Now you can't move for them.
I wonder if the posters trying so hard to think of the most ugly 'old man/lady name' they csn to saddle their child with would have described Clarence or Edith as 'gorgeous' 20 years ago?

I think it’s quite cool.

Dylan Sprouse’s very glamorous beautiful wife is called Barbara

I agree with this completely. This 'honour' business is strange and really overrated. I too was born in 1971 and only much older people were called Barbara. It's dead frumpy.

I love it actually! Nicknames you need to be ok with: Barbie, Babs. You won’t get to decide what her school friends call her.

I don’t think that your DD would be bullied for being called Barbara, even if it is currently an unpopular name.

Babies are given such a wide variety of names these days that one more unusual name in the class won’t stand out in the way it might have 30+ years ago.

Barbara is more fashionable now than it was for babies in the 70s. Go for it if you don’t mind Barbie.

I think it’s a bit dated, it is a nice name though.
I’d have it as a middle name

Yes, popular in the 60s - I was just reeling off names of girls in my year at school, and similar aged colleagues I've worked with over the years that have been a similar age to me.

I live in a German speaking country and there are loads of Barbaras around, including young people.
I really don't like the name actually, but that's my personal preference.
Most of the Barbaras I know go by "Babsie" or "Babs".

Think about what it might get shortened too and whether you like those names or not and maybe consider it as a middle name if you're not sure about it.

She can go by Barbie which is cute

Yes, it is the turn of those names next. I think Susan is the nicest of them.

I think it is coming back, and it isn't a made-up name and I don't really see what there is to tease in it.

Not a favourite of mine, I have to be honest, but then I don't like many of the Mabel, Daphne, Nora, Nancy old lady "ugly" names that have come back round.

If you like it, it has meaning and DH agrees, why not? I do think Babs is cute (baps not so much ...)

It’s awful don’t do it.