He was a milk drinking detective in the 1970s. How would he wear on a milk drinking toddler circa 2009?
Thanks to Lola for suggesting our Name of the Day: Barnaby.
Barnabas is an ancient appellation, the name of a first century saint and television’s first famous vampire, Dark Shadows’ Barnabas Collins. Barnaby is his younger, snappier cousin – though he still traces his roots back to the Middle Ages.
His origins are Aramaic. The bar means “son of,” like the Welsh ap or Arabic ibn. Nabah translates to prophecy or exhortation. I’m probably missing something, because “son of one who urges or pleads” doesn’t make much sense as a given name – at least not circa 2009.
While neither version of the name has ever appeared in the US Top 1000, both are familiar. The milk-drinking detective mentioned earlier was Buddy Ebsen’s character, the hero of CBS’ Barnaby Jones. But he’s not alone. There were other fictional Barnabys:
- Charles Dickens penned Barnaby Rudge between 1840 and 1841. His Barnaby was a simpleton. While the book wasn’t a hit, Barnaby’s pet raven inspired Edgar Allen Poe’s legendary poem;
- Cary Grant played Dr. Barnaby Fulton in the 1952 film Monkey Business;
- Minor characters, both named Barnaby Tucker, appear in Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker and Broadway musical Hello Dolly!;
- Several fictional bears have worn the name Barnaby;
- Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell write a children’s series about Barnaby Grimes, a lad who bounds over rooftops making deliveries in a fictional universe.
A handful of real people have worn the name, too. In the later Middle Ages, Barnaby appears in England, with spelling variants like Barnabye, Barnabie and Barniby in the record. But he was never terribly common.
Nickname Barney has fared better. He ranked in the US Top 1000 from 1880 into the 1970s until the forces of pop culture (Rubble, Purple Dinosaur, Simpsons character) conspired to make him less than appealing for a child.
The unrelated Barry was once perfectly fashion-forward, charting as high as #61 in 1962 and spending nearly three decades in the US Top 100. Today, Barry sounds aged and easy-listening (think Barry Manilow). So while he might be a logical short form for Barnaby, I doubt he’d be considered. On the other hand, if you’re trying to honor a grandpa Barry, Barnaby might work.
The other nickname – one that Lola often mentions – is Bas or Baz. Much like Mimi seems to work for nearly any girl’s name beginning with M, Bas fits with most boys’ names that start with B.
Barnabas could find favor with parents reviving other ancient ends-in-s picks like Atticus and Julius.
Barnaby, while equally rare, is reminiscent of modern favorites like Anthony, Zachary and Jeremy. It’s this quality that makes him a good candidate if you’re shopping for a boy’s name that stands out – but not too far.
Barnaby jst will not leave my lists, I find him completely down to earth & charming but he’s got the flasy feel He loves. So it’s a winner for us. Son of the prophet is what I’ve always gotten from his wishy washy etymology. It makes a bit more sense, anyway.
The other half is a HUGE Drak Shadows fan, a fact I’m sure I’ve mentioned before. He used to sit in front of the TV at 3 and 4 and watch it with his big sisters, who would race home from school to catch it. Yeah.
I fell in love with Barnaby because he’s a charcter in my second favorite musical of all time (and one that’s getting a bit more notice thanks to a cartoon): “Hello Dolly”. If you watch Wall-E, it’s in the first 45 seconds of the movie, as it pans in on Wall-E (we own it, and watch it about 4 times a week right now) so I’m being constantly exposed to “Barnaby!” and I love it. It’s a singable name and I adore those types. Cary Grant definitely didn’t hurt Barnaby either.
As far as nicknames go, you pegged me, I’m a Baz lover and any way I can get it suits me fine. But a Barnaby of mine would probably end up Barnes or Barn at least 60% of the time. And Barney? Well, I figure a real kid could get people to stop associating wit the purple dinosaur. The last really decent cartoon Barney? Rubble. And I like him, at least equally as much as Rufus, for the same thing you mentioned. He’s uncommon, but sound wise doesn’t sound too out there at all. Which is a great thing, as far as I’m concerned.
I can’t imagine flashy little Barnaby’s going to get much love but honestly, I don’t care if he does and am even hoping there’s not suddenly a ton of Barnaby love, I don’t want a tiny bubble of them around at the same time! Barnaby’s aces to us both and that’s all that’s really important, in our book.
Thanks a million, Verity. I really appreciate this one!
Ooh, just one more thought. Johnny Depp is remaking “Dark Shadows” as a movie, if all things. Apparently, he was a huge fan as a kid too and is playing Barnabas. Maybe *that* will boost Barnabas and by default, Barnaby? It’s a project “In Development” on IMDb for 2011, it says. Hmmm. Wonder.
Barnaby seems like such an endearing name. Can you imagine teaching sunday school class and having a little Barnaby? I think he’d be my fav student just for his name:) It’s really a fun name to say aloud! I know we’ll never have our own Barnaby here (for one thing, we keep having girls, and for another, our boy’s name is picked out should we ever have one) – but I could definitely see suggesting it to others looking for something different with a catchy ring to it. It would make a nice mn, too, for those feeling less bold in the fn spot (James Barnaby?)
I really like Barnaby, as Lola says he’s unusual but doesn’t sound out there at all anc can totally imagine a cute little Barnaby… not much more to say than that – Barnaby is lurverly!
I like Barnaby in full, but I don’t like Barney or Barry at all. I did suggest this name to my husband just to see what he thought (since he likes Jeremy and Timothy), but it didn’t appeal to him.
I agree with Sarah that it would make a great middle name. It would be a great first name, too — I just think it’s a shame to shorten it.
Lola, not really! That’s so exciting.
And Barnes! *Smacks forehead.* That didn’t even cross my mind. It’s a solid nn, too.
Err … exciting about the movie version of Dark Shadows, that is!
Barnaby is great! I like the -ar- names, but Barnaby is especially appealing. Barnes and Bas are both good… but I don’t discount Barney. Maybe it has grown on me watching How I Met Your Mother… NPH makes me laugh. Anyhow, I wouldn’t give up on Barney as a nickname. OOOH! A Dark Shadows movie?!?! With Depp?! I second that “exciting”!!!!
I like Barnaby, but I love Barney. I think Barney is adorable, and could totally work on a real child. I lean towards wanting to use just Barney, but lately have been toying with using Barnaby/Barnabas to get the nickname.
I’ve never really been able to warm to Barnaby – I love his bouyancy and cheeriness, but he just can’t get there to me!! Like Emmy Jo, I prefer him in full, and if my son were named Barnaby, he probably wouldn’t go by a nn.
Honestly, he just reminds me of Lola now
In your combos he’s pretty spunky & endearing! He’s just not for me!
I have a Barnaby known as B, Barnes and Barney but I love Barnaby best! I had only ever met one before in my life when I was 7 or 8 but since having him I know of 3 other baby Barnaby’s, and two high school children with the same name. Other women seem to be more positive about his name than men though…Chaps seem a bit non-plussed and are more comfortable with the nick names.
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Barnabas means ‘son of comfort’, so maybe Barnaby means the same?