Barnabas is a distinctive choice, ranked #2444 in 2024. Your child is likely to be the only Barnabas in their class.
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UK Rank 2024
#2444
About the Name Barnabas
Barnabas has seen a notable decline in recent years, dropping 1171 places in five years. It was most popular in 1998 at #1000 â parents choosing it today are making a deliberately counter-trend decision. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996.
Barnabas is distinctive enough that your child will likely be the only one in both their class and their school â standing out on every register.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Barnabas
Unlikely. With around 9 UK babies named Barnabas per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Barnabas in his class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Barnabas has been declining in UK popularity, dropping 1171 places in the last five years. Its peak was #1000 in 1998. Choosing it now means he is likely to be among the last of his generation with this name.
Barnabas is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Barnabas include: Barnabas Sobor â Barnabas Sobor is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga Nusantara club Persinab Nabire.; Levi Barnabas â Levi Barnabas is a Canadian politician.; A.R.G.S.T. Barnabas â A..
Barnabas does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice â your child is unlikely to encounter American Barnabass in the wild.
9
UK babies named Barnabas (2024)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
< 1
In a school of 600
↓ 1171 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Barnabas
Likely around 1 other Barnabas in the class
UK Popularity (1996–2024)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Barnabas
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Levi Barnabas is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories in 1995 and served until Nunavut was created in 1999.
Barnabas Kelet Henagan was a physician and South Carolina politician who became the 58th governor of South Carolina due to the death of Patrick Noble on April 7, 1840.
Barnabas Dejen Mondal was a Bangladeshi United Protestant Archbishop who was the first moderator of the synod of the Church of Bangladesh, and the first bishop of the Church of Bangladesh Diocese of Dhaka. The Church of Bangladesh is a United Protestant denomination formed as a result of a merger between Anglican and Presbyterian denominations in the region.
Barnabas Tinkasimire is a Ugandan politician and a Member of the Ugandan Parliament elected from the Buyaga West constituency, Kagadi District on the ticket of National Resistance Movement (NRM). He was the Chairman for the Bunyoro Parliamentary Caucus.
Barnabas (; Ancient Greek: ÎÎąĎνιβវĎ; Syriac: ÜܪܢÜÜ), born Joseph (៸ĎĎÎŽĎ) or Joses (៸ĎĎÎŽĎ), was a prominent Christian disciple, identified as an apostle in Acts 14:14. According to Acts 4:36, he was a Cypriot Levite.