Meaning and history
Dakota is a name derived from the Native American people of the northern Mississippi Valley or from the U.S. states named after them, North and South Dakota, which were part of Dakota Territory until 1889. The tribal name means “allies, friends” in the Dakota language. It was uncommon as an American given name before 1975, gained popularity for boys in the mid-1980s after a character with this name appeared on Ryan’s Hope, and is now used more often for girls, likely influenced by actress Dakota Fanning (1994–).
20062006: 2,367 births, rank #172
2007: 1,962 births, rank #202
2008: 1,645 births, rank #226
2009: 1,387 births, rank #251
2010: 1,142 births, rank #292
20112011: 1,031 births, rank #312
2012: 961 births, rank #328
2013: 905 births, rank #350
2014: 894 births, rank #357
2015: 943 births, rank #356
20162016: 874 births, rank #376
2017: 1,000 births, rank #340
2018: 944 births, rank #349
2019: 973 births, rank #344
2020: 920 births, rank #346
20212021: 958 births, rank #339
2022: 945 births, rank #347
2023: 1,017 births, rank #328
2024: 1,060 births, rank #326
20252025: 1,074 births, rank #319
Dakota rose from #326 to #319 for boys between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1995, with 6,575 births.