A Scottish surname, Barr comes from the Gaelic term ‘barr’ which means a hill of height. An Old French term ‘barre’ refers to a barrier. A spelling variation for Barr is Barre. In England families with the Barr family name lived all across England. Those counties with the greatest Barr population are Yorkshire, Lancashire and the city of London. The numbers are much less for Wales. In Scotland the Barr surname originated in the Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire areas. It was spread to most of Scotland over the years. Within the United States the Barr name originated in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, California Michigan and Indiana. Famous: Douglas Barr (film director, writer and actor), Julia Barr (actress), Nevada Barr (writer), Terry Barr (professional football player), Norman B. Barr (founder in 1888 of the Olivet Institute in Chicago, Illinois to help the poor), Niki Barr (musician), Roseanne Barr (comedian and actress) and Art Barr (professional wrestler).