1960s Baby Names

18,229 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

#49
Kelly Kelly is a name from the Irish surname Ó Ceallaigh, borne almost entirely by men for most of its history and now 86 percent female on record.
156,059 in the 1960s
#50
Sharon Sharon is a girl's name taken from a place rather than a person — the fertile coastal plain of Sharon in Israel, known from the rose of Sharon in the Song of Songs.
155,408 in the 1960s
#51
Debra Debra is a girl's name, the phonetic respelling of Deborah, from the Hebrew for bee.
154,181 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
#54
Teresa Teresa is a girl's name whose meaning is uncertain, though harvester is the usual reading.
152,204 in the 1960s
#55
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
144,660 in the 1960s
#56
Nancy Nancy is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace."
143,135 in the 1960s
#57
Christine Christine is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, the French form of Christina.
139,728 in the 1960s
#58
Cheryl Cheryl is a girl's name coined in twentieth-century America, probably by blending Cherie with Beryl.
136,001 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
#60
Tracy Tracy is a Norman place name that became a surname, then a boys' name, then overwhelmingly a girls' name — about 81 percent of recorded births are female.
132,957 in the 1960s
#61
Denise Denise is a girl's name, the French feminine of Denis, and like it traces to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
129,281 in the 1960s
#62
Robin Robin is a name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame."
129,175 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
#65
Tina Tina is a girl's name that serves as the tail end of several unrelated names — Christina, Martina, Valentina and Bettina — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
126,772 in the 1960s
#66
Patrick Patrick is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "nobleman."
123,238 in the 1960s
#67
Kathleen Kathleen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Caitlín, a form of Catherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
121,252 in the 1960s
#68
Melissa Melissa is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "bee," and it was the title of the priestesses who served Demeter.
119,509 in the 1960s
#69
Amy Amy is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "beloved," and unusually the name is a past participle — someone who has been loved rather than someone lovable.
117,062 in the 1960s
#70
Diane Diane is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the French form of the Roman goddess Diana.
114,777 in the 1960s
#71
Dawn Dawn is a girl's name taken directly from the English word for daybreak, and it is the English counterpart of Aurora rather than a translation of it.
114,607 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
#74
Carol Carol is a girl's name with two independent sources: a short form of Caroline, and the word for a joyful song.
112,904 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
#77
Kim Kim is a name that arrives from three unrelated directions — an English place name, Kipling's 1901 novel, and the most common Korean surname in the world.
101,576 in the 1960s
#78
Kathy Kathy is a girl's name, the pet form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
101,375 in the 1960s
#79
Rebecca Rebecca is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is unsettled, and the standard gloss involves a rope for tying cattle.
99,750 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
#81
Theresa Theresa is a girl's name of uncertain meaning, the German and English spelling of Teresa.
97,412 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
#85
Rhonda Rhonda is a girl's name from a Welsh river valley, and the great spear reading usually given for it is wrong — the Rhondda is named for its own noisiness, not for a weapon.
93,863 in the 1960s
#86
Stephanie Stephanie is a girl's name from the Greek for crown or garland, the feminine of Stephen.
93,098 in the 1960s
#87
Peter Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock."
92,686 in the 1960s
#88
Cindy Cindy is a girl's name, a pet form of Cynthia, which was a title of the moon goddess Artemis.
91,808 in the 1960s
#89
Janet Janet is a girl's name, a Scottish diminutive of Jane meaning God is gracious.
89,549 in the 1960s
#90
Maria Maria is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the Latin and Greek form of Miryam.
89,321 in the 1960s
#91
Wendy Wendy is usually credited to J.
89,212 in the 1960s
#92
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
87,539 in the 1960s
#93
Michele Michele is a girl's name, the single-l spelling of Michelle, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
87,530 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
#95
Jacqueline Jacqueline is a girl's name, the French feminine of Jacques, and it inherits the meaning supplanter from Jacob.
84,691 in the 1960s
#96
Debbie Debbie is a girl's name meaning bee, a pet form of Deborah.
84,393 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.