According to E. Rossoni, it is a surname originating from Frattamaggiore, present in the municipal territory of Santa Maria la Longa; documented around the 17th century ("Vincenzo Antonio Barra", Naples). The surname would come from a locality, namely the village of Barra, which is in the province of Naples.

According to V. Blunda, it is a Sicilian surname of dialectal origin, formed from a locative expression. It comes from the dialectal expression à bàrra fòra, meaning "outside the city". The word bàrra originally alluded to the barrier or toll where taxes were collected from those who entered the walled urban precinct, and by extension designated the outskirts of the populated centre. As a surname it may have originated in a nickname applied to someone who lived or worked outside the walls, a relevant social and administrative distinction in medieval Sicilian cities.