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

#110
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
71,651 in the 1960s
#111
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
71,183 in the 1960s
#115
Ricky Ricky is a boy's name, the pet form of Richard or Ricardo, meaning strong ruler.
66,858 in the 1960s
#117
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
65,819 in the 1960s
#120
Troy Troy is a boy's name with two independent sources — an Irish surname meaning foot soldier, and the ancient city.
62,231 in the 1960s
#121
Jeff Jeff means peace, shortened from Geoffrey — but the first element of that compound is disputed between three different Germanic words, so only the peace half of the name is actually agreed on by the sources.
62,219 in the 1960s
#122
Alan Alan is a boy's name of Breton origin whose meaning has never been established.
61,587 in the 1960s
#123
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
61,186 in the 1960s
#125
Danny Danny is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," a diminutive of Daniel.
61,031 in the 1960s
#126
Shawn Shawn is a boy's name, the phonetic American respelling of the Irish Seán, which is itself the Irish form of John.
60,882 in the 1960s
#127
Russell Russell is a boy's name from a Norman nickname meaning little red, given to someone red-haired or ruddy.
60,687 in the 1960s
#135
Gerald Gerald is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning rule of the spear, and it gave Ireland one of its great Norman dynasties, the FitzGeralds.
55,659 in the 1960s
#136
Bryan Bryan is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed.
55,512 in the 1960s
#137
Wayne Wayne is an occupational surname meaning a wagon maker, and its life as a given name follows one man — John Wayne, who was born Marion Robert Morrison and renamed by a studio.
54,984 in the 1960s
#138
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
54,291 in the 1960s
#139
Dale Dale is a name from the Old English word for a valley, and like Craig and Heather it is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
53,452 in the 1960s
#142
Randall Randall is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning shield-wolf.
52,256 in the 1960s
#145
Lawrence Lawrence is a boy's name meaning from Laurentum, an ancient Italian town linked to the laurel.
51,601 in the 1960s
#147
Phillip Phillip is a boy's name meaning lover of horses, the doubled-l spelling of Philip.
50,632 in the 1960s
#149
Johnny Johnny is a boy's name, the pet form of John, meaning God is gracious.
50,393 in the 1960s
#150
Vincent Vincent is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conquering," from vincere, to conquer.
49,741 in the 1960s
#151
Martin Martin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "of Mars," borne by Saint Martin of Tours, whose cloak gave Europe the word chapel.
49,338 in the 1960s
#152
Billy Billy is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protector."
48,960 in the 1960s
#153
Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.
48,875 in the 1960s
#154
Glenn Glenn is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a narrow valley, and like Craig and Dale it is a plain landscape noun.
48,317 in the 1960s
#158
Sean Sean is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "God is gracious," the Irish form of John by way of Norman French.
47,745 in the 1960s
#159
Jimmy Jimmy is a boy's name, the pet form of James, meaning supplanter.
47,721 in the 1960s
#160
Jonathan Jonathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given," from Yehonatan.
47,578 in the 1960s
#161
Curtis Curtis is a boy's name from a Norman French nickname meaning courteous, and it is one of very few names that describes manners rather than birth, appearance or trade.
47,555 in the 1960s
#162
Barry Barry is a boy's name from an Irish surname generally traced to a word for a spear, though a Welsh island gives a competing route.
47,426 in the 1960s
#163
Bobby Bobby is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
47,411 in the 1960s
#165
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
46,195 in the 1960s
#170
Jon Jon is a boy's name meaning God is gracious, and it is both an English shortening of Jonathan and the standard Scandinavian and Catalan form of John — two routes to the same three letters.
45,167 in the 1960s
#172
Philip Philip is a boy's name from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
44,920 in the 1960s
#174
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
44,512 in the 1960s
#184
Jay Jay is a name serving as an initial-letter shortening for any J name, as a bird name, and as an Indian name meaning victory.
43,092 in the 1960s
#185
Dean Dean is a boy's name with two English origins.
42,811 in the 1960s
#186
Jason Jason is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "healer."
42,704 in the 1960s
#187
Jose Jose is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph.
42,441 in the 1960s
#189
Tim Tim means honoring God, and France ranks it 277th — far above the United States at 3221st, which is the reverse of what an English short form would normally do.
41,670 in the 1960s
#194
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
40,308 in the 1960s
#195
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
39,910 in the 1960s
#197
Darryl Darryl does not mean darling.
39,553 in the 1960s
#198
Henry Henry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler," from heim, meaning home or estate, and ric, meaning ruler or power.
39,420 in the 1960s
#205
Darrell Darrell does not mean beloved.
38,283 in the 1960s
#206
Allen Allen is a boy's name whose meaning is genuinely unknown — rock, handsome and deer have all been proposed from an unidentified Breton source.
37,918 in the 1960s
#209
Victor Victor is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conqueror."
37,061 in the 1960s
#210
Harold Harold is a boy's name from Norse and Old English elements meaning army ruler, and it belongs to the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, killed at Hastings in 1066.
36,938 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.