Bardas was born to the "droungarios" Marinos and Theoktiste, and was the elder brother of Empress Theodora, the wife of Emperor Theophilos, and of Petronas. Three other sisters, Maria, Sophia, and Irene, are recorded by Theophanes Continuatus. The family was of Armenian origin and had settled in Paphlagonia. Some modern genealogists, including Cyril Toumanoff and Nicholas Adontz, have suggested a link of Bardas' family with the Armenian noble clan of the Mamikonian. According to Nina Garsoïan in the "Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium", however, "ttractive though it is, this thesis cannot be proven for want of sources."