Barney (given name)

Barney is a masculine given name,^[1] often a short form (hypocorism) of Barnard, Barnett and other names, and occasionally a nickname. It is also derived from the Slavic name Barni, the pet form of Barnim, which means "defender", and it was formerly a popular name throughout Pomerania. Notable people with the name include:

People

Given name

Barney Aaron (1800–1859), English-born American bare-knuckle boxer
Young Barney Aaron (1836–1907), English-born American bare-knuckle boxer; son of Barney Aaron
Barney Barnato (1851–1897), British mining entrepreneur active in South Africa
Barney Clark (died 1983), first human recipient of an artificial heart
Barney Corse (1799–1878), American abolitionist
Barney M. Giles (1892–1984), US Army Air Force lieutenant general
Barney Hill (1922–1969), an American who, with his wife, claimed to have been kidnapped by aliens
Barney F. Hajiro (1916–2011), US Army soldier awarded the Medal of Honor
Barney Kessel (1923–2004), American jazz guitarist
Barney Lebrowitz (1891–1949), better known as "Battling Levinsky", American boxer
Barney Martin (1923–2005), American actor
Barney McCosky (1917–1996), Major League Baseball outfielder
Barney Pelty (1880–1939), American Major League Baseball player
Barney Poole (1923–2005), National Football League player
Barney Ross (1909–1967), American boxer born Dov-Ber Rasofsky
Barney Sedran (1891–1964), American basketball player
Barney Visser (born 1949), NASCAR team owner
Barney E. Warren (1867–1951), American Christian hymnwriter and minister

Hypocorism

Bernard Barney Berlinger (1908–2002), American decathlete
Bernard Barney Carr (Gaelic footballer) (1923–2021), Irish Gaelic football player and manager
Barnett Barney Danson (1921–2011), Canadian politician and cabinet minister
Bernhard Barney Dreyfuss (1865–1932), owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team
Barnett Barney Frank (born 1940), American former politician
Barnaby Barney Harwood (born 1979), British actor and television presenter
Bernard Barney Herbert (1889–1949), Australian rules footballer
Bernard Barney Hudson (1906–1971), English rugby union and rugby league footballer
Bernard Barney McKenna (1939–2012), Irish musician and a founding member of The Dubliners
Berna Barney Oldfield (1878–1946), American automobile racer and pioneer
Barnet Barney Rosset (1922–2012), owner of Grove Press, and publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Evergreen Review
Bernard Barney Wilen (1937–1996), French saxophonist

Nickname

Barney Bigard (1906–1980), American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist
Barney Carr (1897–1971), Australian rules footballer
Barney Greenway (born 1969), British metal singer
Barney Roos (1888–1960), American automotive engineer, co-designer of the Willys MB Jeep
Raymond van Barneveld (born 1967), Dutch professional darts player

Fictional characters

Barney the Dinosaur, title character of Barney & Friends, a children's TV show about a singing purple dinosaur host, formerly a sometimes singing blue dinosaur host in the early pilot video series of Barney & the Backyard Gang consisting three-part episodes from 1980s.
Barney Barton, older brother and arch-enemy of the superhero Hawkeye in the Marvel Comics universe
Barney Bear, the title character of the 1939–1954 animated shorts Barney Bear
Barney Calhoun, a playable character in Half-Life: Blue Shift and a major character in the Half-Life 2 series
Barney Collier, from the original Mission: Impossible TV series, and the 1988 revival, portrayed by Greg Morris
Barney Cousins, kidnapper from the 1993 movie The Vanishing
Barney Fife, from The Andy Griffith Show
Barney Google, a comic strip character in Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
Barney Gumble, from The Simpsons
Barney Martin, a wandering circus boy The Barney Mystery Series of children's books by Enid Blyton
Barney Miller, a police captain in the TV show Barney Miller
Barney Ross, the leader of The Expendables
Barney Rubble, from The Flintstones
Barney Stinson, from the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris
Barney Stockman, from the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated TV series
Barney, a sheepdog in the short-lived British animated children's TV series Barney

References

^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford paperback reference. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. OCLC 67869278. Retrieved 6 November 2025.

[1] Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford paperback reference. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. OCLC 67869278. Retrieved 6 November 2025.

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