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 in our data.
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 genuinely 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 the births in our records 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 genuinely mixed — about 18 percent of the births in our records 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 genuinely 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 genuinely 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

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.