BARBARA GATEWOOD

From Latin, meaning ‘foreign woman’ (a feminine form of barbarus ‘foreign’, from Greek, referring originally to the unintelligible chatter of foreigners, which sounded to the Greek ear like no more than bar-bar). St Barbara has always been one of the most popular saints in the calendar, although there is some doubt whether she ever actually existed. According to legend, she was imprisoned in a tower and later murdered by her father, who was then struck down by a bolt of lightning. Accordingly, she is the patron of architects, stonemasons, and fortifications, and of firework makers, artillerymen, and gunpowder magazines.

English: habitational name of uncertain origin. There are places called Gate Wood End, South Yorkshire, Gatewood Hill, Hampshire, and Gatewood House Farm, Leicestershire. The first is named from an Old Norse geyt ‘rushing stream or spring’; the second is from Old English gāt ‘goat’; the etymology of the Leicestershire place name is not known.