Barnabas is a distinctive choice, ranked #1613 in 2025. Your child is likely to be the only Barnabas in their class.
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UK Rank 2025
#1613
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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 uncommon in the UK, so your child is very likely to be the only Barnabas in their class.
â Famous People Named Barnabas
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.
Biographical summaries are shortened from Wikipedia and are used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; those summaries remain available under that same licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Barnabas
Unlikely. With around 16 UK babies named Barnabas per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Barnabas in their class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Barnabas is declining: down 340 places since 2020, to #1,613 in 2025. It peaked at #1,000 in 1998.
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, Levi Barnabas and A.R.G.S.T. Barnabas. Short summaries for each appear below.
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.
16
UK babies named Barnabas (2025)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
< 1
In a school of 600
↓ 340 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
Almost certainly the only Barnabas in the class
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UK Popularity (1996–2025)
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
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.
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).
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.