unisex name
Dakota
duh-KOH-tuh
- Origin Native American
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 3
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 144,266
the United States
#295
2025 births
Dakota means friend or ally in the Dakota language, and it is one of very few widely used names taken from an Indigenous North American language. It charts in all seven markets and 32 percent of births are female.
- Dakota is a name of Native American origin.
- Peaked in 1995, when 7,700 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,572 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1915.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Dakota over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 8 |
| 1920s | 6 |
| 1950s | 31 |
| 1960s | 73 |
| 1970s | 285 |
| 1980s | 3,022 |
| 1990s | 55,800 |
| 2000s | 40,585 |
| 2010s | 21,858 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 12,908 |
What Dakota means
Dakota means friend, or ally. It is the Dakota people's own word for themselves, so the name is an endonym rather than a description applied from outside.
Where Dakota comes from
Dakota is the Dakota people's name for themselves, from a word meaning friend or ally — the same root behind Lakota and Nakota, three dialect groups of the nation outsiders called Sioux, which is a French rendering of an Ojibwe term and not their own word at all. The two American states take the name from the people. As a given name it is entirely modern, appearing in our records from 1915 but not in real volume until the 1990s, and it belongs to a very small set of widely used names drawn from an Indigenous North American language rather than a European one.
Dakota in use
Dakota peaked in the United States in 1995, when 7,700 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It charts in all seven markets we track — 295th in the United States on 2,109 births, 378th in Scotland on 9, 387th in Northern Ireland, 498th in England and Wales on 98, 602nd in Canada, 1056th in Ireland and 6795th in France — across 144,266 lifetime births. About 32 percent of recorded births are female, which puts it among the genuinely mixed rather than the resolved.
How popular is Dakota?
In 2025, Dakota was given to 2,109 babies in the United States, ranking #295 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Dakota is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Dakota
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Dakota also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Dakota over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Dakota
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Dakota in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Dakota
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Dakota — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Dakota
What does the name Dakota mean?
Friend or ally — the Dakota people's own word for themselves.
Is Dakota a Native American name?
Yes, from the Dakota language — one of very few widely used names with that source.
Is Sioux the same word?
No. Sioux is a French rendering of an Ojibwe term, not the nation's own name for itself.
Is Dakota a boys' or girls' name?
Genuinely both — about 32 percent of the births in our records are female.
How popular is the name Dakota?
In 2025, Dakota was given to 2,109 babies in the United States, ranking #295 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Dakota?
Dakota has 3 syllables.
When was Dakota most popular?
Dakota peaked in 1995, when 7,700 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Dakota?
Dakota is usually shortened to Kota and Dak.
Is Dakota a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Dakota currently ranks #295 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.