Dakota

What does Dakota mean?

Dakota means “allies” or “friends” in the Dakota language. As a modern English first name, it comes from the name of the Dakota people or from North and South Dakota, the states named for them.

It is used for both boys and girls. Its American popularity grew especially strongly in the late twentieth century, while actress Dakota Fanning gave the name a widely recognized female bearer.

The people and places behind the name

The Dakota name belongs first to a Native American people with homelands in the northern Mississippi Valley. Minnesota holds particular significance in Dakota history, including Bdote, where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers meet.

The eastern Dakota include the Bdewakantunwan, Wahpetunwan, Wahpekute, and Sissitunwan peoples. Dakota communities and related peoples have lands extending across several present-day American states and into Canada.

The state names North Dakota and South Dakota carry this older name into American geography. Before becoming separate states in 1889, they formed part of the Dakota Territory. The first name can therefore have either a direct connection with the people's name or a connection through the familiar American place names.

Dakota Fanning on screen

Dakota Fanning became a prominent young performer through I Am Sam. Her supporting performance earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination in 2002. At that year's ceremony, she was recognized as the youngest performer to have received an individual nomination for the award.

Fanning later voiced Coraline Jones in Coraline, released on February 6, 2009. Directed by Henry Selick and adapted from Neil Gaiman's novel, it was LAIKA's first animated feature.

The story follows an eleven-year-old girl who finds a secret doorway in her new home. Beyond it lies another world, whose initial attractions conceal a more unsettling reality. Fanning's performance links Dakota with a well-known live-action childhood role and a distinctive animated heroine.

Pronunciation and sound

Dakota is pronounced duh-KOH-tuh in English, with three syllables and stress in the middle. The opening and ending vowels are light, leaving the long oh sound at the center.

The same spelling is used for boys and girls. Its full three-syllable form is the established first name; its history comes from Dakota language and geography rather than from an expanded English formal name.

Dakota in the United States

For American boys, Dakota reached both its highest annual count and its best rank in 1995, with 6,575 babies and a position of No. 56. It ranked No. 319 in 2025.

Girls' use reached its highest annual count and best rank in 2006, with 1,839 babies and a position of No. 190. It ranked No. 296 in 2025. The two peaks show how Dakota's strongest period arrived earlier for boys than for girls.

How popular is Dakota?

In 2025, Dakota ranked #319 among boys in the United States, with 1,074 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1966; its largest annual count was 6,575 in 1995. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.