I would love to honor my grandma Barbara in my daughters name (team green though). Idk if I would want to actually name her Barbara and give her a cute modern nickname (my 16 month old is Wilhelmina nn Willa) or if I want to use another name to honor her like Birdie (she loved birds). I LOVE the name Birdie but my husband isn’t so keen and I think it might be too similar to my brothers daughter’s name, Bernadette. Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you I’m advance!
[name_f]Barbara[/name_f], as far as old names go, ain’t too bad (not my fave must admit but let’s put my opinions aside). Oh and tell your husband that [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] is such a cute nickname! [name_f]Bernadette[/name_f] and [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] is very sweet without being too similar. I mean if you were calling your kid something like [name_m]Bertram[/name_m] (which is very similar to Bernadette) that would be a little on the nose but [name_f]Bernadette[/name_f] is long and old fashioned whereas [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] is cute and modern. Soooo I think that [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] (so you can honour your grandma) but you can nickname her [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] (so her actual name isn’t too similar to Bernadette) is a great idea and your husband should think so too.
I love [name_f]Birdie[/name_f]. You could do [name_f]Barbie[/name_f] if you’re feeling daring.
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i like barbara ! she has a lot of unique sounds
whilst it does seem like birdie is the one for you, maybe one of these options could work ?
bonnie
beatrice / beatrix
bibiana
blythe
bellamy
briar
varya / varia
bruna
betty (still too similar to bernadette ?)
[name_f]Barbara[/name_f] so deserves a comeback. I’m kind of liking [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] “Bobby” with [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] “Willa” for you! 
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Nicknames for [name_f]Barbara[/name_f]: [name_f]Birdie[/name_f], Bebe/Bibi, [name_u]Bo[/name_u], [name_f]Bee[/name_f], [name_u]Ara[/name_u], [name_u]Bobbie[/name_u] or [name_u]Ari[/name_u]
Names with bird meanings: [name_f]Mavis[/name_f], [name_f]Avis[/name_f], [name_f]Enna[/name_f], [name_f]Paloma[/name_f], [name_f]Zipporah[/name_f], [name_f]Jemima[/name_f], [name_f]Alondra[/name_f]
Names that have similar sounds or letters to [name_f]Barbara[/name_f]: [name_f]Bridget[/name_f], [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f], [name_f]Bina[/name_f], [name_f]Bethany[/name_f], [name_f]Bardot[/name_f], [name_f]Briony[/name_f], [name_f]Briana[/name_f], [name_f]Arabella[/name_f]
Names with similar meanings: [name_f]Xenia[/name_f], [name_f]Alodia[/name_f]
[name_f]Birdie[/name_f] is commonly used as a nickname for [name_f]Bernadette[/name_f], so I’d avoid it.
[name_u]Bobbie[/name_u] is a common nickname for [name_f]Barbara[/name_f], so [name_f]Roberta[/name_f] “Bobbie” could work. Other names with a BAHR or BUR sound include [name_f]Alberta[/name_f], [name_f]Bertha[/name_f], and [name_f]Beryl[/name_f], and [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] would work as a nickname for any of them. You might also consider names that mean bird, like [name_f]Astoria[/name_f] (“hawk”), [name_f]Avis[/name_f] (means “desire”, but coincides with the Latin word for bird), [name_f]Celandine[/name_f] (“swallow”), [name_f]Circe[/name_f] (“hawk”), [name_u]Wren[/name_u] (well… “wren”), or [name_f]Zipporah[/name_f] (“bird”).
would you consider varvara? it is my favourite variation of barbara. the nickname for it is varya, i lie varya too! otherwise something like bibi, bea, abby, rebbie? those are all great nicknames for barbara that could work as standalone names.
Some other names I don’t think have been mentioned as a subtle honour
[name_f]Cara[/name_f]
[name_f]Mara[/name_f]
[name_f]Lara[/name_f]
[name_u]Aria[/name_u]
I also had a grandma [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] who I want to honor.
I like just [name_u]Barra[/name_u] as a more modern version.
I prefer keeping honor names as close to the original as possible, so I vote for naming her [name_f]Barbara[/name_f]! [name_f]My[/name_f] absolute favorite nickname to go with [name_f]Willa[/name_f] would be [name_u]Barry[/name_u]. [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] “Willa” and [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] “Barry” are so wonderful.