1960s Baby Names

5,757 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 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 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
#64
Terry Terry is a name serving as a short form of Terence and of the Germanic Theodoric, two unrelated names, and it is mixed — about 18 percent of recorded births are female.
129,127 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 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

What Made a 1960s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1960 and 1969. A name's position here is how many of them were.

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.