The name is originally derived from the old French word “barre”; this had two meanings in the ancient language.
Firstly, “barre” signified “a pole” and may have been applied to an individual who made or sold such objects; on the other hand, the word also meant “the bar at a toll-house” and contemporaries of men who worked in such places may have referred to them in this manner.
It was not until the early Middle Ages that surnames were first used to distinguish between numbers of people bearing the same personal name.
Notable bearers of the name have included Pierre la Barre, also called Barriere.
Born in Orleans, the son of a sailor, he was responsible for the plan to assassinate Henri IV.