Barbie was born by Ruth Handler who noticed her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls and imagining them in grown-up roles. Realizing that dolls on the market at the time were all baby dolls, Ruth saw a need for a doll that would inspire little girls to think about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Thus the idea for Barbie doll, the teenage fashion model, was born. Ruth named the doll Barbie, after her daughter--and the rest is history.