1960s Baby Names

10,861 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

#740
Erika Erika means ever-ruler, the feminine of Erik — and it is also the botanical name for heather, which is a separate Greek word that happens to match.
5,331 in the 1960s
#741
Margarita Margarita means pearl, and it names both a cocktail and a pizza — the pizza for Queen Margherita of Italy, the drink by a route nobody has ever settled.
5,319 in the 1960s
#744
Misty Misty is a word name with no older root — it is the English weather word used directly, appearing in American records only from the 1940s and peaking within a single generation.
5,294 in the 1960s
#746
Tamera
5,260 in the 1960s
#749
Janette
5,221 in the 1960s
#750
Katie Katie is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine whose meaning has never been settled.
5,216 in the 1960s
#752
Ella Ella is a girl's name with two distinct origins. The Norman French line derives from the Germanic element ali, meaning other or foreign, while a Hebrew line gives Ella as a word for a terebinth tree.
5,195 in the 1960s
#753
Lena Lena is a girl's name used as a short form of Helena, Magdalena and Elena, so it usually carries the sense "light" or "torch."
5,193 in the 1960s
#755
Valarie
5,166 in the 1960s
#757
Christi
5,133 in the 1960s
#758
Florence Florence is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "blossoming" or "flourishing."
5,115 in the 1960s
#760
Staci
5,092 in the 1960s
#766
Polly Polly is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, a pet form of Mary whose meaning has never been settled.
5,030 in the 1960s
#767
Janelle Janelle is an American elaboration rather than an inherited name — Jane with a French-looking ending attached, built in the twentieth century by the same habit that produced Danielle, Rochelle and Michelle.
5,025 in the 1960s
#770
Janis Janis fell further than any name in this sweep — 3,217 American births in 1947 down to 10 in the most recent year we hold, which is a fall of more than 99 percent.
4,995 in the 1960s
#772
Rachelle
4,969 in the 1960s
#773
Bridgette
4,967 in the 1960s
#774
Jerri
4,963 in the 1960s
#776
Stella Stella is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "star."
4,957 in the 1960s
#777
Rosie Rosie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rose."
4,942 in the 1960s
#780
Sophia Sophia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "wisdom," taken directly from the Greek word sophía.
4,919 in the 1960s
#782
Bobbi
4,878 in the 1960s
#783
Ingrid Ingrid carries a god's name — Ing, the Norse deity the Swedish kings claimed descent from, joined to a word meaning beautiful.
4,873 in the 1960s
#784
Courtney Courtney is a name from a Norman family whose surname is usually read as short nose, though a place-name derivation competes.
4,843 in the 1960s
#785
Kimberlee
4,832 in the 1960s
#786
Amelia Amelia is a girl's name most often explained as a blend of two older names: the Germanic Amalia, meaning "work" or "industrious," and the Latin Emilia, from the Roman family name Aemilius.
4,829 in the 1960s
#790
Jolene
4,789 in the 1960s
#791
Madeline Madeline is a girl's name meaning "of Magdala," a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee whose name comes from the Hebrew migdal, a tower.
4,780 in the 1960s
#792
Colette Colette is a girl's name meaning victory of the people, a French diminutive of Nicole.
4,764 in the 1960s
#793
Olga Olga is a Norse name in Russian dress — Helga traveled east with the Varangians and became Olga, so the patron saint of Kyiv and Moscow carries a Scandinavian word meaning holy.
4,759 in the 1960s
#794
Tamra
4,744 in the 1960s
#795
Elena Elena is a girl's name of Greek origin, the Italian, Spanish, and Russian form of Helen.
4,744 in the 1960s
#796
Rena
4,741 in the 1960s
#798
Ethel Ethel is a girl's name from an Old English word meaning noble, and it is not a name in its own right in that language — it is the first half of longer names like Ethelred, cut off and used alone.
4,721 in the 1960s
#799
Lynnette
4,711 in the 1960s
#801
Lorna
4,667 in the 1960s
#803
Annmarie
4,648 in the 1960s
#804
Shelby Shelby is a girl's name from an English place name of Norse formation meaning a willow farm.
4,642 in the 1960s
#809
Della Della has no single parent — it shortens Adela, Delia and Adelaide alike, and our data marks it reviving, at 563rd in the United States and 1010th in Scotland.
4,583 in the 1960s
#811
Lorri
4,564 in the 1960s
#812
Corinne Corinne is a girl's name from the Greek for a maiden, and it was borne by a poet said to have beaten Pindar five times in competition.
4,555 in the 1960s
#813
Wilma Wilma means resolute protection, and The Flintstones did nothing for it.
4,536 in the 1960s
#816
Wendi
4,502 in the 1960s
#820
Lucille Lucille is a girl's name from the Latin for light, given to children born at daybreak.
4,418 in the 1960s
#822
Danette
4,394 in the 1960s
#824
Deidre
4,369 in the 1960s
#831
Karyn
4,311 in the 1960s
#832
Maxine Maxine is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "greatest," a feminine form of Maximus.
4,309 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.