boy's name
Barra
BAR-uh
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (Ireland)
- Births on record 333
Ireland
#170
2025 births
Barra is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "fair-haired," a short form of Fionnbharr, and the Hebridean island of Barra is named for a different saint entirely. It ranks 170th in Ireland and is rising.
- Barra is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2025, when 29 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 1,547 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1981.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Barra over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 1980s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 17 |
| 1990s | 17 |
| 2000s | 26 |
| 2010s | 81 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 96 |
What Barra means
Barra means fair-haired, or fair-headed, taken from the barr of Fionnbharr — a word for a head or a top, with the fionn, fair, doing the color work in the fuller name.
Where Barra comes from
Barra is a short form of the Irish Fionnbharr — fionn, fair, and barr, head or top — the name of Saint Finbarr of Cork, who founded the monastery that became the city and is its patron. Because the short form drops the fionn, Barra strictly carries only the head element, and the fair-haired reading is inherited from the fuller name rather than contained in this one. The Hebridean island of Barra is named for a different Saint Barr, sometimes identified with Finbarr and sometimes not, and that identification is disputed. Barra is also the ordinary Irish word for a bar or a top, and a separate Barra exists in Gambian and Senegalese use. Bairre and Barry are the other Irish forms, and Barry is now far more common as an English name from an unrelated surname.
Barra in use
Barra ranks 170th in Ireland with 29 births in 2025 and 306th in Northern Ireland, and it is rising, with its peak in our records in 2025. Our records carry it from 1981. It appears in no other market we hold. Fionnbharr and Finbar are counted separately in Irish records, so the full name and its short form are split across entries.
How popular is Barra?
In 2025, Barra was given to 29 babies in Ireland, ranking #170 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Barra is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Barra
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Barra also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Barra over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Barra in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Finbar Fionnbharr
Sibling names for Barra
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Barra — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Barra
What does the name Barra mean?
Fair-haired, inherited from Fionnbharr — though the short form keeps only the barr, head, element.
Is Barra named after the Scottish island?
No. The island is named for a Saint Barr whose identification with Finbarr is disputed.
Who was Saint Finbarr?
The founder of the monastery that became Cork, and the city's patron saint.
How popular is Barra?
170th in Ireland and 306th in Northern Ireland.
Is Barra a girl's or a boy's name?
Barra is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Barra?
Barra has 2 syllables.
Is Barra a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Barra currently ranks #170 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.