'barbel' originates from Medieval Latin 'barbula' (a diminutive of Latin 'barba'), where 'barba' meant 'beard'.

'barbula' passed into Old French/Medieval Latin forms and then into Middle English as 'barbel', eventually becoming the modern English 'barbel'.

Initially, it meant 'little beard' (a small beardlike feature); over time it came to refer specifically to the beardlike sensory organs on fish and to fish named for those organs.