Barbara
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Barbara.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Barbara (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Few babies have been given the name since 1998; it belongs mostly to older generations. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | – |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | – |
| 2008 | – |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | – |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | 3 |
| 2013 | 2 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | – |
| 2019 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,748 |
| 2000 | 1,755 |
| 2001 | 1,768 |
| 2002 | 1,789 |
| 2003 | 1,805 |
| 2004 | 1,813 |
| 2005 | 1,844 |
| 2006 | 1,902 |
| 2007 | 1,968 |
| 2008 | 2,026 |
| 2009 | 2,071 |
| 2010 | 2,076 |
| 2011 | 2,103 |
| 2012 | 2,122 |
| 2013 | 2,146 |
| 2014 | 2,182 |
| 2015 | 2,193 |
| 2016 | 2,214 |
| 2017 | 2,221 |
| 2018 | 2,240 |
| 2019 | 2,222 |
| 2020 | 2,199 |
Barbara in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Barbara.Hi! My name is Barbara.
- Har du träffat Barbara? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Barbara? She started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Barbara kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Barbara is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Barbaras mamma är lärare.Barbara's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Barbaras mamma is Barbara's mum.
More names
Questions about Barbara
How do you pronounce Barbara in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Barbara from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Barbara mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Barbara.
How popular is Barbara in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Barbara in 2022. In 2020, 2,199 people in Sweden had Barbara as the first name they go by.
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.