He was named Barbarossa by the northern Italian cities which he attempted to rule: Barbarossa means "red beard" in Italian; in German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, which has the same meaning.
Ia mendapat julukan Barbarossa dari kota-kota Italia utara yang ingin dikuasainya: Barbarossa berarti "berjenggot merah" di dalam Bahasa Italia; di Jerman, ia dikenal sebagai (Bahasa Jerman: Kaiser Rotbart), yang memiliki arti yang serupa.