Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Apparently tomorrow is National Barbara Day! Who knew? I did not. My friend, Jean, put it on her Facebook (probably just to celebrate me) (teehee) and I have confirmed with the internet that tomorrow is my day. Huh. I am definitely going to figure out something to do to celebrate. The day honors all people worldwide with this unique name, which originated in Ireland. Barbara is a Hawaiian spelling of Babara. Ha! That is clipped right out from the National Day calendar describing my day. Irish. That’s unlikely. Irish names all be Shoibhan and that is pronounce Delores (or something like that). The Hawaiian alphabet doesn’t even have B! What are they talking about?!
Bubbly
Amiable
Respectful
Bossy
Approachable
Regular
Affable
Look! I poemed! Man, that was a lot of the same letters. I had to bring up lists of adjectives for each letter, because I could think of nothing starting with B, A, or R except round. I am round. I feel round. I didn’t really want to go with round. So, I read the lists and when a word just hit me, I went with it. The A list had definitions and all the A words I picked had something to do with talking – certainly NOT my favorite feature, but really the one I can’t seem to defeat.
Did you know that Barbara was the second most popular girl’s name in the United States from 1937-1944? What the hell? I actually learned this a couple months ago. I had NO IDEA it was ever popular. Weird. I really have met very few Barbaras in my life. Second most popular. Where are they? Well, they are old now, so they are probably at home, because it is late, but thirty years ago where were they? I didn’t meet them. Hi Barbaras!
Barbara means strange or foreign. I knew that. My sister, Donna’s name means lady. Think about it – Spanish – Donna is the title for a lady. I was strange. She was a lady. Darn. Yet, hilarious. I always thought we were very aptly named.
Saint Barbara was tortured to death by her father, who was then prosecuted with death-by-lightning, according to Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox tradition. As a result, St. Barbara is a fire and lightning protector. Gosh, it was fun to become a saint, hey? Imma skip that.
Barbra Streisand dropped the a from Barbara in 1967, because record people had advised her to change her last name. She didn’t want to, so she perversely “changed” her first name instead. When I was a kid, I thought there were just two spellings of Barbara. I didn’t know Barbra was the only one who spelled it that way.
I never noticed that Barbie and I have the same name until I was 16. Or so I think now. That is the story I remember. Definitely could have made that up and now just believe it. It was a W moment, for sure.
Happy Barbara Day!
Thank you. Happy Barbara day to you, too
I’ll let Barbara expound further on this, but here in Leelanau County, Michigan, we have a “Society of Barbaras” (or something like that). Up until the pandemic they assembled once per summer. In other Barbara trivia, I once climbed to the St. Barbara Shrine at the top of the mountain that’s at the top of the mountain (doesn’t seem to have a name) next to Riva del Garda, Italy. I’m sure there are a lot more St. Barbara shrines… Anyway, happy National Barbara Day!!! Time to celebrate…
I remember Barbara telling me about the Barbara group. Amazing. You and Barbara should celebrate with ice cream!
The story is that, several years ago in a Leelanau County exercise class of 8 women, they discovered that 4 of them were named Barbara. The four thought that was funny, and started going out for coffee together after class. Each time a member of the original 4 encountered another Barbara, she was added to the group, and eventually they started having a yearly dinner at one of their homes. When they got to 25 people, they changed the dinners to a luncheon and met at a different restaurant each year. When we moved here, I was recruited to join. I only got to attend one luncheon before COVID, but it was great fun. We all put our middle names on our name tags, and used those names during conversation. I don’t know what they did in previous years, but this time, the wearing of tiaras was encouraged, and the decor was Barbie themed: Barbie dollhouse, convertible complete with Ken, and placemats that were pages from a Barbie coloring book (yes, we colored). The average age was quite high, though one member brought her 4-year-old granddaughter who was named after her. Lots of the Barbaras are here!
I cannot love that more than I do – not because it is Barbara, but because those 4 ladies created a celebration out of (basically) nothing – which I am realizing right now is a guiding principle of my life.
I would LOVE to know everyone’s middle name!! I would color! I have a tiara – which I am going to wear the rest of the day!