Names that Peaked in 1969

Michael was the Number 1 American boys' name for almost half a century. While Michael has moved out of the Top 10 baby boy names, it's still widely used.

Laura is a hauntingly evocative perennial, never trendy, never dated, feminine without being fussy, with literary links stretching back to Dante. All this makes Laura a more solid choice than any of its more decorative counterparts and one of the most classic girl names starting with L.

Retro short form of Marina, now dated to the era of the Hitchcock movie that made it famous. In the UK, it's one of the hottest vintage names of the moment, perhaps inspired by British singer Lily Allen, who gave it to her second daughter in 2013. It's also a character name on the hit TV show Girls.

In ancient Greece, a student of Plato; in modern America, a cool guy.

A short but sophisticated, long-neglected name you might want to consider.

This is an alternative to Laura or Lauren made romantic by Dr Zhivago, and badass by video-game heroine Lara Croft.

Michelle is the feminine form of Michel, the French variation of Michael. Michael was derived from the Hebrew name Mihka’el, meaning "who is like God." The alternate spelling Michele, with one "L," was the original version of the name. Michelle appeared as a later Anglicization in the 20th century.

Elvis naming his daughter Lisa Marie and Nat King Cole's hit song "Mona Lisa" conspired to catapult one of Elizabeth's many offshoots to a high of #4 in 1970.

Christine was the dominant feminine variation of Christopher forty or fifty years ago, when French E-endings were preferred over As; it was a Top 20 name for several years, from 1966 to 1974. But though it still hangs in on the popularity list, today most any other version would be considered more stylish, from Kristen to Kirsten to Christina herself.

A 1970s beach boy surfing buddy of Scott, Brad, and Chad, Todd is given to relatively few babies these days.

Craig is a single-syllable baby-boomer name, still common in its native Scotland, but most modern Americans would prefer something like Kyle.

This spelling adds a little more femininity to the neutral Lee. Leigh and sister Lee were quite popular in the 1960s and 1970s among the first cool wave of unisex names for girls, but now have vanished from the Top 1000. The Biblical Leah is preferred.

Alisa is less popular than more complicated forms of Alice like Alyssa or Alicia, perhaps because of its association with the once-overused Lisa.

Dina is a 20th century version of either Dinah or Adinah, two Old Testament names not related to each other. Dinah was the beautiful daughter of Jacob and Leah, while Adinah or Adina was a male soldier, though the name is also used for girls in modern Israel.

Corwin is an upstanding surname name that has been seen occasionally as a first in literature, but rarely in real life. But maybe with the recent acceptance of Darwin, that might change.

Though it's used for boys, most non-French people would hear it as a girls’ name. Most would be surprised to learn that Rene has always charted in the US Top 1000 for boys.

Classic French name that becomes pretentious when used for an American baby.

Long-standing French name that retains a feminine, fragile, and shell-like image.

It would be easy to dismiss this girlish name as invented fluff, but it has roots in several cultures with evocative meanings and references. Shani refers to the "scarlet thread" or theme of a story. Shani is also the name of a Hindu god and the Sanskrit word for the planet Saturn. And it's a Swahili name also found in other African cultures that means marvelous.

Italian classic Luigi, though it lacks the modern style of Nico, Enzo, and Rocco, does have some notable namesakes, such as Nobel Prize winning author Luigi Pirandello and composer Cherubini..