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

#97
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
82,235 in the 1960s
#98
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
82,130 in the 1960s
#99
Paula Paula is a girl's name from the Latin for small or humble, the feminine of Paul.
80,701 in the 1960s
#100
Jeffery Jeffery is a boy's name whose first element is genuinely disputed, though the second means peace.
79,985 in the 1960s
#101
Sherry Sherry is a girl's name that appears to have been taken from the wine, whose own name is a corruption of the Spanish town Jerez.
77,778 in the 1960s
#102
Catherine Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is genuinely unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense.
77,007 in the 1960s
#103
Carolyn Carolyn is a girl's name, an English elaboration of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
75,503 in the 1960s
#104
Bruce Bruce is a boy's name from a Norman place name, and Scotland's most famous king carried it as an import — the Bruces came from Normandy, not from Scotland.
74,931 in the 1960s
#105
Laurie Laurie is a name meaning laurel, and it is genuinely mixed by country — masculine in Britain as a short form of Laurence, feminine in America as a short form of Laura.
74,719 in the 1960s
#106
Sheila Sheila is the Irish form of Cecilia, meaning blind — and parents outside Ireland should know it became Australian slang for a woman in the nineteenth century, which is why it barely charts there.
74,289 in the 1960s
#107
Rodney Rodney is a boy's name from an English place name, and its rise as a given name follows a single admiral — George Rodney, who broke the French line at the Saintes in 1782.
72,557 in the 1960s
#108
Ann Ann is a girl's name from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning grace or favor, and the spelling without the final e.
72,291 in the 1960s
#109
Roger Roger is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning famous spear.
71,751 in the 1960s
#110
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
71,651 in the 1960s
#111
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
71,183 in the 1960s
#112
Jill Jill is a girl's name, a medieval short form of Gillian, and it is half of the oldest surviving English nursery rhyme pair.
69,310 in the 1960s
#113
Leslie Leslie is a Scottish place name turned surname turned given name, and it has crossed sexes: about 71 percent of the births in our records are female, though the name began firmly male and remains so in Britain.
68,177 in the 1960s
#114
Chris Chris shortens two unrelated Greek names — Christopher, which means bearing Christ, and Christine, which means belonging to Christ.
67,612 in the 1960s
#115
Ricky Ricky is a boy's name, the pet form of Richard or Ricardo, meaning strong ruler.
66,858 in the 1960s
#116
Connie Connie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "steadfast" or "constant."
65,860 in the 1960s
#117
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
65,819 in the 1960s
#118
Diana Diana is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon.
65,221 in the 1960s
#119
Terri Terri shortens Teresa, whose meaning has never been established — harvester, summer and a Greek island are all proposed and none of them is settled.
64,033 in the 1960s
#120
Troy Troy is a boy's name with two independent sources — an Irish surname meaning foot soldier, and the ancient city.
62,231 in the 1960s
#121
Jeff Jeff means peace, shortened from Geoffrey — but the first element of that compound is disputed between three different Germanic words, so only the peace half of the name is actually agreed on by the sources.
62,219 in the 1960s
#122
Alan Alan is a boy's name of Breton origin whose meaning has never been established.
61,587 in the 1960s
#123
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
61,186 in the 1960s
#124
Dana Dana is a name with several unrelated sources — a Danish origin, a Hebrew feminine of Daniel, and an Irish mother goddess.
61,128 in the 1960s
#125
Danny Danny is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," a diminutive of Daniel.
61,031 in the 1960s
#126
Shawn Shawn is a boy's name, the phonetic American respelling of the Irish Seán, which is itself the Irish form of John.
60,882 in the 1960s
#127
Russell Russell is a boy's name from a Norman nickname meaning little red, given to someone red-haired or ruddy.
60,687 in the 1960s
#128
Suzanne Suzanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "lily," from shoshannah.
59,889 in the 1960s
#129
Andrea Andrea is a name meaning "manly" or "brave," from the Greek aner.
59,493 in the 1960s
#130
Beth Beth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a short form of Elizabeth, and the seven in the Hebrew is the same idea as the oath.
58,519 in the 1960s
#131
Lynn Lynn is a name from a Welsh and Gaelic word for a lake or a pool below a waterfall.
58,304 in the 1960s
#132
Janice Janice is a girl's name usually credited to a 1899 novel, though our records carry it from 1894 — five years before the book.
58,183 in the 1960s
#133
Valerie Valerie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "strong" or "healthy," from the verb valere, meaning to be strong or to be well.
56,739 in the 1960s
#134
Renee Renee is a girl's name from the Latin for reborn, given at baptism to mark spiritual rebirth.
56,128 in the 1960s
#135
Gerald Gerald is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning rule of the spear, and it gave Ireland one of its great Norman dynasties, the FitzGeralds.
55,659 in the 1960s
#136
Bryan Bryan is a boy's name of Irish origin whose meaning is unsettled — noble and high are both proposed.
55,512 in the 1960s
#137
Wayne Wayne is an occupational surname meaning a wagon maker, and its life as a given name follows one man — John Wayne, who was born Marion Robert Morrison and renamed by a studio.
54,984 in the 1960s
#138
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
54,291 in the 1960s
#139
Dale Dale is a name from the Old English word for a valley, and like Craig and Heather it is a plain landscape noun rather than a compound.
53,452 in the 1960s
#140
Christina Christina is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, and the fullest of the family that includes Christine and Kristina.
52,952 in the 1960s
#141
Gina Gina is not one name — it is the ending of several different ones, and which name it shortens changes the meaning entirely.
52,496 in the 1960s
#142
Randall Randall is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning shield-wolf.
52,256 in the 1960s
#143
Annette Annette is a girl's name meaning grace, a French diminutive of Anne.
52,103 in the 1960s
#144
Cathy Cathy is a girl's name, a pet form of Catherine whose meaning has never been established.
51,753 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.