Bara

Bara is a South Slavic and Central European feminine name functioning as a short form of Barbara, which derives from the ancient Greek barbaros, meaning foreign or strange, originally used by Greeks to describe those who did not speak Greek. The Czech form Bára and the Croatian form Bara share this same root and are used as familiar or independent given names in their respective traditions. Barbara itself spread widely through medieval Europe owing to the veneration of Saint Barbara, a legendary early Christian martyr, making these contracted forms part of a broad family of European variants.