Here is the definition from the Bible Dictionary.
Bar. Aramaic for son. Throughout the N.T. it is the first component of several names, such as Barabbas, Barjona, Bar-jesus, Barnabas, Bartholomew, etc.
Pick the correct definition for the following names.
[poll id=158]
[poll id=159]
[poll id=160]
[poll id=161]
[poll id=162]

As a linguist, I’ll admit this back-formation analysis makes me shudder a bit;)
Sorry Jenn, I don’t claim to be a linguist. I’m just trying to have a bit of educational fun!
Barak – President Obama acutally spells his name as Barack, so the first one is not correct. But Barak does mean lightning, and is an ancient Israeli commander with Deborah. So if you picked both of those, you got that right.
Barbarian means “foreigner”, and is not an Aramaic word, so “Son” doesn’t apply.
Barley is a grain, (which is the Bible Dictionary definition.) If you put that it is to make beer, give yourself extra credit!
Barnabas means “son of consolation”.
Baruch means “blessed”, so it doesn’t seem to follow the “son” idea. Perhaps Jenn can explain why, or perhaps it is not an Aramaic name.
How many of these 5 did you get right?
Barbarian is from the Greek “barbar” for nonsense reflecting that the barbarians language sounded like nonsense.
(simplified, of course).
I got 4 of 5 right.