Barr Family History
Barr Name Meaning
Scottish (Glasgow) and northern Irish (Ulster): habitational name from any of various places in southwestern Scotland in particular Ayrshire and Renfrewshire named with Gaelic barr ‘height hill’ or a Brittonic cognate of this. English and Welsh: habitational name from Great Barr in Staffordshire. This is from Brittonic barro- ‘top summit’ referring to Barr Beacon; there is evidence that this was known as la Bare in the 13th century. English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Barre-en-Ouche in Eure France or perhaps from Barre-de-Semilly in Manche France. English: topographic name for someone who lived by a gateway or barrier from Middle English Old French barre ‘bar obstruction’. In the English Fenland bar could denote an obstruction (for example a weir) in a stream. English: from the vocabulary word barr ‘bar pole’ either a metonymic occupational name for a maker of bars or perhaps a nickname for a tall thin man. Irish: from Ó Bairr Donegal form of Ó Báire (see Barry ).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
