# Barnabas (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/barnabas/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “prophet's son”, “son of”, “prophet” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɑɹnəbəs/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Barnaby |
| US babies named this | 605 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 605 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 453, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Ancient Greek Βαρναβᾶς (Barnabâs), from Aramaic בַרְנֶבֻאָה (barneḇú’â, literally “prophet's son”), from בּר (bar, “son of”) and נְבִיָּא (nəḇiyyā, “prophet”).

## What it means

Barnabas is grouped under son.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | 8,152 |
| 2012 | 8 | 8,959 |
| 2013 | 18 | 5,000 |
| 2014 | 14 | 6,026 |
| 2015 | 15 | 5,771 |
| 2016 | 13 | 6,402 |
| 2017 | 24 | 4,235 |
| 2018 | 9 | 8,241 |
| 2019 | 17 | 5,373 |
| 2020 | 22 | 4,439 |
| 2021 | 16 | 5,590 |
| 2022 | 13 | 6,527 |
| 2023 | 19 | 5,094 |
| 2024 | 22 | 4,584 |
| 2025 | 30 | 3,669 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13 | 1,688 |
| 2012 | 20 | 1,270 |
| 2013 | 22 | 1,147 |
| 2014 | 20 | 1,281 |
| 2015 | 21 | 1,236 |
| 2016 | 17 | 1,498 |
| 2017 | 17 | 1,470 |
| 2018 | 15 | 1,610 |
| 2019 | 28 | 1,001 |
| 2020 | 20 | 1,273 |
| 2021 | 17 | 1,448 |
| 2022 | 19 | 1,366 |
| 2023 | 13 | 1,799 |
| 2024 | 9 | 2,443 |
| 2025 | 16 | 1,613 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Варнава
- Catalan: Bernabé
- Hindi: बार्नबस
- Hungarian: Barnabás
- Italian: Barnaba
- Polish: Barnaba
- Portuguese: Barnabé
- Spanish: Bernabé

## People named Barnabas

- Barnabás Rácz, association football player
- Barnabás Sztipánovics, association football player (1974–)
- Barnabas Zhang, Chinese christian (1882–1961)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.