
English and Irish (of Norman origin): probably a nickname for a quarrelsome person from Old French barat Middle English bar(r)at bar(r)et(te) ‘trouble distress’ later ‘deception fraud; contention strife’. Through Norman settlement it also became common in Ireland where it was Gaelicized as Baróid (Munster) and Baréid (Connacht).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022