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

#205
Darrell Darrell does not mean beloved.
38,283 in the 1960s
#206
Allen Allen is a boy's name whose meaning is 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
#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
#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 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 1,042nd 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 1,285th 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

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.