Dakota

Where Dakota comes from

Borrowed from Dakota dakhóta (“ally”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Dakota
  • place
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1966
    First appearance
    #3,948 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1989
    Dakota Johnson born
    American actress and model
  3. 1994
    Dakota Fanning born
    American actress and model
  4. 1995
    Peak, #56
    6,575 babies named Dakota — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2003
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #126.
  6. 2025
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the place name.
Namesakes
  • Dakota Fanning · American actress and model, born 1994
  • Dakota Johnson · American actress and model, born 1989
  • Dakota Blue Richards · English actress, born 1994
  • Dakota Goyo · Canadian actor, born 1999
  • Dakota Kai · New Zealand professional wrestler, born 1988

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.