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

#213
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
36,586 in the 1960s
#214
Greg Greg means watchful, and the Greek is a command rather than a description — gregorein means stay awake, which early Christians took as an instruction about the second coming.
36,513 in the 1960s
#217
Jack Jack is a boy's name of English origin that began as a pet form of John, by way of the medieval nickname Jankin.
35,740 in the 1960s
#220
Ronnie Ronnie is a name of Old Norse origin meaning "ruler's counsel."
35,656 in the 1960s
#222
Darren Darren has no established origin — it appears in twentieth-century America with no traceable parent, and the Irish and Gaelic derivations offered for it were attached after the fact.
35,247 in the 1960s
#225
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
34,374 in the 1960s
#228
Joel Joel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin that joins two names for God, and the prophet's book supplied the line quoted at Pentecost.
34,298 in the 1960s
#232
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
33,592 in the 1960s
#235
Jim Jim is a boy's name meaning supplanter, shortened from James — which is the same name as Jacob, split into two by Latin.
33,289 in the 1960s
#239
Micheal Micheal is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose full form is a rhetorical question — who is like God?
32,357 in the 1960s
#244
Marc Marc is a boy's name from a Roman name probably meaning dedicated to Mars, the god of war, and it is the source of the month of March.
31,494 in the 1960s
#245
Eddie Eddie is a boy's name, the pet form of Edward or Edwin, meaning wealth.
31,254 in the 1960s
#247
Frederick Frederick is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "peaceful ruler."
30,942 in the 1960s
#248
Stanley Stanley is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "stony clearing."
30,185 in the 1960s
#251
Tommy Tommy is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin."
29,865 in the 1960s
#253
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
29,500 in the 1960s
#254
Tom Tom is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a short form of Thomas used as a full name across Europe.
29,264 in the 1960s
#256
Howard Howard is a boy's name whose origin is genuinely contested — high guardian, brave heart and even a keeper of pigs have all been proposed.
28,843 in the 1960s
#258
Leonard Leonard is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "lion-strong," and its saint is the patron of prisoners and of women in labor.
28,606 in the 1960s
#261
Marvin Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead.
28,350 in the 1960s
#262
Kurt Kurt means bold counsel, shortened from Konrad — and the courteous reading commonly given is a false friend, coming from an unrelated French word that only sounds similar.
28,301 in the 1960s
#266
Brent Brent means burned land, from ground cleared by fire — a place name recording a specific agricultural practice rather than a hill or a holy site, which are the two readings usually offered for it.
27,242 in the 1960s
#269
Ernest Ernest is a boy's name from a Germanic word meaning serious or resolute, and it is far stronger in Europe than in America — 252nd in England and Wales and 276th in France against 1042nd in the United States.
27,095 in the 1960s
#271
Dwayne Dwayne means the little dark one, from an Irish surname built on the word for black — the same root that gives Dublin its name, which means the black pool the city grew around.
26,950 in the 1960s
#274
Aaron Aaron is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is not established.
26,285 in the 1960s
#275
Brett Brett means a Breton — someone from Brittany, which is named for the Britons who fled there when the Anglo-Saxons arrived.
26,131 in the 1960s
#277
Rick Rick means brave ruler, shortened from Richard — and the medieval habit of rhyming pet names is why Rick also produced Dick, which is the same name with a different first letter.
25,787 in the 1960s
#279
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
25,753 in the 1960s
#281
Bill Bill comes from William, and the B is the point — medieval English made pet names by rhyming, which is why Will became Bill, Rob became Bob and Rick became Dick.
25,184 in the 1960s
#282
Reginald Reginald means counsel-power, and England and Wales ranks it 229th on 217 births against 1285th in the United States — one of the sharpest British-versus-American splits in this group.
25,152 in the 1960s
#295
Duane Duane means the little dark one, from an Irish surname built on the word for black — and that same root also gives us Dublin, which means the black pool that the city originally grew up around.
23,889 in the 1960s
#296
Juan Juan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious."
23,724 in the 1960s
#298
Melvin Melvin is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, and the gentle chieftain reading usually given for it is an invention — the source is a Norman family who took their name from Malleville in France.
23,335 in the 1960s
#299
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
23,312 in the 1960s
#303
Adam Adam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "earth" or "ground," from adamah.
22,998 in the 1960s
#304
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
22,935 in the 1960s
#305
Norman Norman means a Northman — a Viking.
22,932 in the 1960s
#306
Mitchell Mitchell is a boy's name from a medieval English form of Michael, meaning who is like God — though a second and quite separate source exists from an old word simply meaning big.
22,808 in the 1960s
#307
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
22,795 in the 1960s
#308
Dan Dan means he judged, and it is a full Hebrew name in its own right before it is short for Daniel — one of Jacob's twelve sons, and the tribe that gave its name to the northern border of Israel.
22,754 in the 1960s
#310
Carlos Carlos is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
22,664 in the 1960s
#312
Jerome Jerome is a boy's name meaning sacred name, and it belongs to the scholar who translated the Bible into Latin — the version Western Europe read for over a thousand years.
22,467 in the 1960s
#313
Ray Ray is a boy's name that serves as a short form of Raymond and as the English word for a beam of light.
22,465 in the 1960s
#314
Nicholas Nicholas is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "victory of the people," from nike, victory, and laos, the people.
22,407 in the 1960s
#317
Kirk Kirk means church, and it is Norse rather than English — the Vikings brought the word to northern England and Scotland, which is why Scots say kirk where English says church.
22,275 in the 1960s
#318
Don Don is a boy's name shortened from Donald, meaning world ruler.
22,268 in the 1960s
#322
Calvin Calvin is a boy's name of French origin meaning "little bald one," from the Latin calvus, bald.
22,103 in the 1960s
#323
Glen Glen means a narrow valley, and it is one of very few Gaelic words that English borrowed wholesale rather than adapting to its own sounds.
22,003 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.