1960s Baby Names

5,710 names were given to children in the United States between 1960 and 1969, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
836,771 in the 1960s
#2
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
736,477 in the 1960s
#3
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
716,135 in the 1960s
#4
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
687,738 in the 1960s
#5
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
653,466 in the 1960s
#7
Mark Mark is a boy's name of Latin origin, most likely meaning "of Mars," borne by the evangelist who wrote the earliest gospel.
442,737 in the 1960s
#8
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
423,227 in the 1960s
#9
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
375,372 in the 1960s
#11
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
328,237 in the 1960s
#12
Jeffrey Jeffrey is a boy's name from Germanic roots whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
302,954 in the 1960s
#13
Steven Steven is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, and the phonetic respelling of Stephen.
291,564 in the 1960s
#16
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
284,271 in the 1960s
#17
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
277,906 in the 1960s
#18
Kevin Kevin is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "gentle birth," and its saint founded Glendalough and by tradition lived to 120.
272,549 in the 1960s
#19
Scott Scott is a boy's name meaning a Scot, from the surname given to people from Scotland.
267,570 in the 1960s
#21
Brian Brian is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed, and neither is secure.
258,898 in the 1960s
#22
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
250,687 in the 1960s
#23
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
243,419 in the 1960s
#24
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
242,889 in the 1960s
#25
Christopher Christopher is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ," from Christos and pherein, to carry.
238,077 in the 1960s
#27
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
228,556 in the 1960s
#31
Anthony Anthony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning is genuinely unknown — it is probably Etruscan rather than Latin.
204,449 in the 1960s
#33
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
188,298 in the 1960s
#36
Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.
182,990 in the 1960s
#41
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
173,390 in the 1960s
#43
Gary Gary is a boy's name that reached the charts by an unusually traceable route: a surname became a steel town in Indiana, the town's name was given to an actor, and the actor made it a first name.
166,727 in the 1960s
#52
Eric Eric is a boy's name of Old Norse origin meaning "eternal ruler" or "sole ruler."
152,878 in the 1960s
#53
Stephen Stephen is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, borne by the first Christian martyr.
152,717 in the 1960s
#55
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
144,660 in the 1960s
#59
Douglas Douglas is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic for dark water, originally a river and then a powerful border family.
135,413 in the 1960s
#63
Todd Todd is a boy's name from a northern English dialect word for a fox, given as a nickname to someone crafty or red-haired.
129,151 in the 1960s
#66
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
123,238 in the 1960s
#72
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
113,772 in the 1960s
#73
Keith Keith is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, probably from a Brittonic word for a wood.
113,110 in the 1960s
#75
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
109,181 in the 1960s
#76
Matthew Matthew is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of Yahweh," from Mattityahu.
106,277 in the 1960s
#80
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
97,502 in the 1960s
#82
Dennis Dennis is a boy's name that traces back to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic release — one of the few widely used Christian names derived from a pagan deity.
95,405 in the 1960s
#83
Randy Randy is a boy's name, the short form of Randall or Randolph, meaning shield-wolf.
94,949 in the 1960s
#84
Jerry Jerry is a name that serves as the short form of at least three unrelated names — Jeremiah from Hebrew, Gerald and Gerard from Germanic — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
94,778 in the 1960s
#87
Peter Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock."
92,686 in the 1960s
#92
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
87,539 in the 1960s
#94
Craig Craig is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a rock or crag, and one of the few names that is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
84,964 in the 1960s
#97
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
82,235 in the 1960s
#100
Jeffery Jeffery is a boy's name whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
79,985 in the 1960s
#104
Bruce Bruce is a boy's name from a Norman place name, and Scotland's most famous king carried it as an import — the Bruces came from Normandy, not from Scotland.
74,931 in the 1960s
#107
Rodney Rodney is a boy's name from an English place name, and its rise as a given name follows a single admiral — George Rodney, who broke the French line at the Saintes in 1782.
72,557 in the 1960s
#109
Roger Roger is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning famous spear.
71,751 in the 1960s

What made a 1960s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1960 and 1969, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1960s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.