boy's name
Koda
KOH-duh
- Origin Disputed
- Gender Boy
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 8,368
the United States
#412
2025 births
Koda is a boy's name with more than one claimed source. It is used as a short form of Dakota, connected to a Lakota word for friend, and as a Japanese surname — and much of its current use follows a bear cub in a 2003 animated film.
- Koda is a name of Disputed origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 858 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,864 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1984.
Koda over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1980s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 62 |
| 1990s | 62 |
| 2000s | 852 |
| 2010s | 2,306 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,291 |
What Koda means
Koda is usually given as friend or ally, through the Dakota and Lakota kola. That word is real, but whether the name descends from it or simply resembles it is not established.
Where Koda comes from
Koda is generally traced to the Dakota and Lakota kola, a friend or ally, the same root behind the people's own name — Dakota and Lakota both mean allies. The form Koda with a D is not the Siouan word, so the connection is by resemblance rather than direct descent. It also exists as a Japanese surname, written with characters meaning small field, unrelated to any of this. And Brother Bear, released in 2003, gave the name to a bear cub, which is when our records show it climbing. All three explanations circulate; only the last is clearly visible in the data.
Koda in use
Koda charts in five of the seven countries we track and reached its highest recorded use in 2025.
How popular is Koda?
In 2025, Koda was given to 858 babies in the United States, ranking #412 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Koda 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 Koda
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Koda also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Koda over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Koda 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 Koda
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Koda — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Koda
What does the name Koda mean?
Usually friend, through the Dakota and Lakota kola — though the D form is not the Siouan word, so the link is by resemblance.
Is Koda a Native American name?
It is connected to a genuine Lakota word, but whether the name descends from it or merely resembles it is not established.
Is Koda short for Dakota?
It is used that way. Dakota itself means allies in the Siouan languages.
How popular is the name Koda?
In 2025, Koda was given to 858 babies in the United States, ranking #412 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Koda a girl's or a boy's name?
Koda is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Koda most popular?
Koda peaked in 2025, when 858 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Koda a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Koda currently ranks #412 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.