Varvara
From Greek, it means "foreign" or "stranger", and reaches Poland through Russian and Ukrainian use. Still rare here: most Poles have never met one, and every bearer on record is a woman.
Varvara Pronunciation
What Varvara means
Where Varvara comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Varvara begins in Greek. The old word barbaros named anyone who did not speak Greek, whose talk sounded to Athenian ears like a repeated bar-bar. From there the name took its literal sense: foreign, stranger, someone from outside. Polish renders it as obca, cudzoziemka.
The label of an outsider softened over the centuries. Saint Barbara, a martyr honored across the Christian East, gave the name a settled home, and Orthodox tradition spoke it as Varvara. Russian and Ukrainian families kept this form, and it stayed common in both countries. Her feast falls on the fourth of December, marked in those lands as the day of Varvara.
The meaning never left. A girl called Varvara still carries a Greek word for the stranger, obca, cudzoziemka.
How many people are named Varvara
1 in 5162 women in Poland is named Varvara. 4,371 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #520 among female names.
Varvara's popularity over time
36 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #415 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2009.
Where parents choose Varvara
Varvara is most popular in Lower Silesian, 87% above the national average (27 girls born 2019–2025), followed by West Pomeranian (+67%) and Łódź (+63%). It is least common in Holy Cross and Opole, 61% and 53% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian
+87%1 in 5,820 babies
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West Pomeranian
+67%1 in 6,494 babies
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Łódź
+63%1 in 6,669 babies
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Holy Cross
−61%1 in 27,717 babies
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Opole
−53%1 in 23,048 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−21%1 in 13,672 babies
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Lower Silesian+87% 27 born1 in 5,820 babies+87%
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West Pomeranian+67% 13 born1 in 6,494 babies+67%
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Łódź+63% 19 born1 in 6,669 babies+63%
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Lubusz+53% 7 born1 in 7,094 babies+53%
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Greater Poland+36% 27 born1 in 7,972 babies+36%
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Pomeranian+25% 17 born1 in 8,666 babies+25%
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Masovian+20% 39 born1 in 9,084 babies+20%
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Silesian±0% 21 born1 in 10,837 babies±0%
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Lesser Poland−19% 17 born1 in 13,348 babies−19%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−21% 8 born1 in 13,672 babies−21%
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Opole−53% 2 born1 in 23,048 babies−53%
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Holy Cross−61% 2 born1 in 27,717 babies−61%
Varvara as a middle name
Varvara is a first name for 4,371 women in Poland and a middle name for another 12, a 100/0 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 2219th, between Valérie (12) and Vasiliki (12).
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#2217 Una12
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#2218 Valérie12
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#2219 Varvara12
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#2220 Vasiliki12
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#2221 Venessa12