Top Baby Names of 1960

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1960.

What the Data Says About 1960

The Social Security Administration's national 1960 file shows 2,833,515 births concentrated in the top 100 boy and top 100 girl names, the segment of U.S. baby-name data released to the public for that year. The #1 boy name of 1960 was David, with 85,929 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1960 was Mary, with 51,472 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 1,585,063 births compared with 1,248,452 for the top 100 girls — consistent with the historical SSA pattern in which a smaller pool of boy names dominates a larger share of annual births while girl names are more evenly distributed.

1960 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Mid-century years like 1960 fall within the post-war baby-boom era; total U.S. birth volume was higher than today and a relatively small set of names (Robert, James, Linda, Mary) dominated national rankings. David and Mary leading 1960 fits this broader cultural signature.

These rankings come directly from Social Security Administration card applications and represent approximately 96% of all U.S. births in 1960. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1960 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1960 is significantly larger than any public top-100 list can show. Each spelling variation is counted separately — Sophia and Sofia, Aiden and Ayden — so rankings reflect only the specific spelling filed on the SS card, not combined name pools. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute naming advice.

← 1959
1960
1961 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 David 85,929
2 Michael 84,153
3 James 76,815
4 John 76,096
5 Robert 72,357
6 Mark 58,727
7 William 49,361
8 Richard 43,553
9 Thomas 39,278
10 Steven 33,878
11 Timothy 30,498
12 Joseph 29,749
13 Charles 29,677
14 Jeffrey 28,841
15 Kevin 28,400
16 Kenneth 27,701
17 Daniel 25,945
18 Paul 25,642
19 Donald 22,744
20 Brian 22,000
21 Ronald 21,714
22 Gary 21,693
23 Scott 21,606
24 Gregory 20,304
25 Anthony 19,499
26 Edward 16,595
27 Stephen 16,267
28 Larry 15,988
29 Christopher 15,361
30 Douglas 15,133
31 Dennis 14,303
32 Randy 14,206
33 George 14,063
34 Terry 13,932
35 Keith 12,180
36 Mike 12,045
37 Jerry 11,835
38 Ricky 11,000
39 Bruce 10,972
40 Frank 10,755
41 Craig 10,724
42 Peter 10,715
43 Steve 10,645
44 Eric 10,539
45 Patrick 10,356
46 Raymond 9,720
47 Roger 9,041
48 Danny 8,611
49 Jeff 8,511
50 Alan 8,356
51 Andrew 8,201
52 Tony 7,999
53 Carl 7,808
54 Dale 7,677
55 Jeffery 7,658
56 Russell 7,487
57 Joe 7,314
58 Wayne 7,193
59 Randall 7,174
60 Tim 6,931
61 Matthew 6,925
62 Gerald 6,571
63 Chris 6,494
64 Lawrence 6,380
65 Johnny 6,184
66 Phillip 6,047
67 Billy 6,023
68 Rodney 5,865
69 Jimmy 5,817
70 Walter 5,763
71 Todd 5,752
72 Barry 5,733
73 Bobby 5,656
74 Glenn 5,563
75 Jim 5,549
76 Philip 5,509
77 Martin 5,495
78 Jay 5,385
79 Curtis 5,363
80 Roy 5,255
81 Willie 5,238
82 Arthur 5,194
83 Greg 5,084
84 Henry 4,968
85 Jack 4,918
86 Tom 4,894
87 Ronnie 4,872
88 Bryan 4,780
89 Ralph 4,770
90 Bradley 4,746
91 Samuel 4,711
92 Harold 4,679
93 Albert 4,602
94 Dean 4,518
95 Bill 4,501
96 Darryl 4,436
97 Jon 4,403
98 Vincent 4,373
99 Allen 4,371
100 Stanley 4,221

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Mary 51,472
2 Susan 39,208
3 Linda 37,316
4 Karen 36,378
5 Donna 34,138
6 Lisa 33,693
7 Patricia 32,113
8 Debra 26,732
9 Cynthia 26,706
10 Deborah 25,266
11 Sandra 24,572
12 Barbara 24,454
13 Brenda 23,963
14 Pamela 22,092
15 Nancy 21,891
16 Sharon 20,414
17 Cheryl 19,120
18 Elizabeth 18,859
19 Teresa 18,839
20 Lori 18,690
21 Kathy 18,478
22 Diane 17,909
23 Carol 17,463
24 Debbie 17,067
25 Laura 17,060
26 Kimberly 16,854
27 Kathleen 16,085
28 Julie 16,079
29 Denise 15,066
30 Cindy 14,953
31 Tammy 14,317
32 Janet 14,250
33 Robin 13,971
34 Kim 12,477
35 Theresa 11,847
36 Margaret 11,362
37 Laurie 10,143
38 Rebecca 9,970
39 Michelle 9,893
40 Christine 9,874
41 Janice 9,620
42 Catherine 9,536
43 Carolyn 9,403
44 Rhonda 9,255
45 Tina 9,133
46 Cathy 9,130
47 Connie 8,881
48 Judy 8,855
49 Terri 8,743
50 Angela 8,683
51 Ann 8,677
52 Kelly 8,673
53 Diana 8,327
54 Sherry 8,314
55 Paula 8,066
56 Sheila 7,905
57 Dawn 7,813
58 Joyce 7,757
59 Maria 7,535
60 Beverly 7,392
61 Jennifer 7,243
62 Annette 7,136
63 Wendy 6,870
64 Lynn 6,850
65 Valerie 6,717
66 Wanda 6,674
67 Jane 6,586
68 Betty 6,501
69 Peggy 6,428
70 Shirley 6,411
71 Bonnie 6,389
72 Beth 6,257
73 Vicki 6,159
74 Judith 6,149
75 Darlene 6,093
76 Jill 6,019
77 Amy 5,973
78 Suzanne 5,966
79 Gloria 5,961
80 Joan 5,881
81 Katherine 5,876
82 Kathryn 5,868
83 Martha 5,831
84 Tracy 5,768
85 Jacqueline 5,654
86 Jean 5,639
87 Anita 5,637
88 Anne 5,636
89 Michele 5,609
90 Gail 5,428
91 Stephanie 5,265
92 Leslie 5,242
93 Renee 5,208
94 Ellen 5,136
95 Dorothy 5,076
96 Rita 5,027
97 Ruth 4,943
98 Rose 4,882
99 Joanne 4,875
100 Vickie 4,857
← 1959
1961 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1960 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1959 Top Names
National top 100
1961 Top Names
National top 100
1960s Decade
Decade-level rollup
All Rankings
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Compare 1960 leaders: David vs Mary → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology — names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are excluded to protect privacy.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from the U.S. Social Security Administration. See our methodology for details.