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Fewer females stuck with barbs
(by Barbara Christian - June 09, 2011)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Fewer females stuck with barbs
When I was in grade school, there was no end to the Barbaras who populated my class. There were so many of us the teacher had trouble getting a particular Barbara's attention. We all turned when she called "our" name.
But where did we all go? We were once so popular. No one names their baby girls Barbara anymore, so you won't find Barbara on any list of "most popular baby names."
According to the latest census figures, the name Barbara ranks down around 83 on a scale of 100. I think that's high. Compared to the years between 1920 and 1950, when we Barbaras topped the popularity charts.
The last really well-known Barbara was first lady Barbara Bush, wife of President George H.W. Bush and mother of President George W. Bush. She is responsible for popularizing pearl necklaces and English springer spaniels.
Then there is Barbra Streisand, but does she really qualify? That dropped second "a" is troublesome. Is she ashamed of being a Barbara?
Of course we have Barbie, as in Barbie Doll, Mattel's impossibly built female whose physical measurements are impossible to duplicate in human form.
It's not like we are extinct or anything; there are still some Barbaras around. Over the years, I have met a few, and we greet each other like long lost and reunited soul mates. We really should have a secret handshake.
There is another Barbara in Chagrin Falls. There were two, but one moved. The remaining Barbara and I have often commiserated over the dearth and death of the name we share.
I'm thinking it might have to do with the meaning of the name. Look it up. According to the Think Baby Names Web site, Barbara is defined as having come from the root word "barbarian." Need I say more?
Extrapolating on the barbarian meaning, Barbara is softened in some realms to mean "foreign" or "stranger" and was applied, in its Latin origin, to anyone who did not speak Greek. True enough, I don't know a word of Greek other than "baklava."
Now St. Barbara in the Roman Catholic religion is someone to look up to and to be proud of. She is the protector against fire and lightning. So why aren't more firefighters' daughters named Barbara? Barbara is also the patron saint of architects, an often honorable profession.
On the plus side, one of my co-workers calls me "Barbarella" after Jane Fonda's science fiction sexpot character who is sent to save the world. Not bad either. I must remember to thank her for that.
Aside from Barbie, there are only two nicknames for Barbara, Babs and Barb. I don't like Barb very much, but it's short and easy for people' so I still answer to it.
One of the dictionary meanings of the word "barb" is "a biting or pointedly critical remark or comment," appropriate for someone who often shares her opinions.
In truth, I was named Barbara in honor of my father's Uncle Ben, who died four years before I was born. The letter "B" seems to be our connection aside from blood.
Nonetheless, I bear that "B" proudly, because Uncle Ben was supposed to be a heck of a guy, even though he was not famous for anything in particular and had nothing to do with the invention of quick cooking rice.
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