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

#241
Holly Holly is a girl's name of Old English origin taken from the tree, from holegn.
32,297 in the 1960s
#242
Rose Rose is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the flower, from rosa.
32,006 in the 1960s
#243
Vickie Vickie is an American name that now charts only in France — it peaked at 6,957 US births in 1956 and has left the American rankings entirely, surviving at 6,405th in a market it was never native to.
31,890 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
#246
Carrie Carrie is a girl's name, a pet form of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
31,249 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
#249
Veronica Veronica is a girl's name from a Latin phrase meaning true image, and the saint behind it was invented to explain a relic — the cloth came first, and the woman was named after it.
30,131 in the 1960s
#250
Yvonne Yvonne is a girl's name from a Germanic word for the yew tree, by way of Breton.
30,095 in the 1960s
#251
Tommy Tommy is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin."
29,865 in the 1960s
#252
Becky Becky means to bind, shortened from Rebecca, and the Hebrew is uncertain — a knotted cord and a snare are both proposed, and the reading has never been settled.
29,658 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
#255
Helen Helen is a girl's name from Greek whose meaning is not settled, though torch and shining are the usual readings.
29,204 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
#257
Sylvia Sylvia is a girl's name from the Latin for a forest, and the mother of Rome's founders bore it — Rhea Silvia, who was made a Vestal Virgin so she could not produce heirs.
28,750 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
#259
Yolanda Yolanda means violet, and the flower reaches it through a chain of respellings — the Greek Iolanthe became Violante in Italian by association with viola, and Spanish then rendered that form as the Yolanda we know.
28,568 in the 1960s
#260
April April is a girl's name taken from the month, whose Latin name probably means to open — the month when buds open.
28,381 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
#263
Elaine Elaine is a girl's name, the Old French form of Helen, whose meaning was never established.
27,545 in the 1960s
#264
Kerry Kerry is 53 percent female on record — the fourth-closest to an even split on this site, behind only Emerson, Riley and Jackie.
27,509 in the 1960s
#265
Sheri Sheri means darling, and it is French by way of a misreading — English took the adjective chérie as though it were a name, which is why it has no history as one in France itself.
27,387 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
#267
Marilyn Marilyn is a girl's name usually read as a blend of Mary and Lyn.
27,105 in the 1960s
#268
Jodi Jodi serves Judith, Joseph and Jude at once, which is why the wider Jody family never settled on one sex — three unrelated Hebrew parents pulling in different directions.
27,100 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
#270
Alice Alice is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," arrived at by a long contraction of Adelaide.
27,049 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
#272
Jody Jody serves Judith, Joseph and Jude at once, which is why it is 64 percent female rather than resolving to one side — three unrelated parents pulling in different directions.
26,941 in the 1960s
#273
Rachel Rachel is a girl's name from Hebrew meaning ewe, borne by Jacob's wife in Genesis.
26,881 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
#276
Sheryl Sheryl respells Cheryl, which is itself a twentieth-century invention — it appears in American records around 1920 with no traceable parent, and the meanings offered for it were supplied afterwards.
26,113 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
#278
Phyllis Phyllis is a girl's name from the Greek for foliage, borne by a mythological princess who was turned into an almond tree.
25,772 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
#280
Frances Frances is a girl's name meaning a Frank, or a free one, and the feminine of Francis.
25,269 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
#283
Toni Toni has no established meaning, because Antonia does not — the Roman family name Antonius is probably Etruscan, and the flower reading attached to Anthony is a Renaissance invention.
25,090 in the 1960s
#284
Shelley Shelley means a clearing on a ledge, and it has nothing to do with shells — the poet's surname records a patch of high ground in Suffolk or Sussex, not anything from a beach.
25,089 in the 1960s
#285
Crystal Crystal is a girl's name from the Greek for ice, taken from the mineral rather than from any personal name.
25,057 in the 1960s
#286
Joann Joann is a girl's name meaning God is gracious, a simplified spelling of Joanna.
24,969 in the 1960s
#287
Eileen Eileen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Eibhlín, and its meaning is unsettled — it may render Helen, or Evelyn, or a native Irish name.
24,926 in the 1960s
#288
Charlene Charlene is a girl's name meaning free man, a feminine of Charles.
24,718 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.