[4] For example, Barry is sometimes derived from the Irish Bairre, Barra, and Barre, which are in turn forms of the name Barrfind.
[7] In other cases, Barry is an Anglicised form of the Irish Berach ("pointed", "spear", "sharp").
[10] US President Barack Obama was called by the nickname Barry when younger, which he eventually halted.
In some cases, the surname Barry is an Anglicised form of the Irish Ó Beargha, meaning "descendant of Beargh".
In Ireland, the surname Barry occurs most commonly in Munster and south Leinster.
[18] As of 2014, 59.3% of all known bearers of the surname Barry were residents of Guinea (frequency 1:17), 14.7% of Burkina Faso (1:104), 5.4% of the United States (1:5,629), 4.5% of Senegal (1:274), 3.7% of Mali (1:384), 1.2% of England (1:3,951), 1.1% of Ireland (1:362) and 1.0% of Australia (1:2,004).