Head to head · Boys' names
Dakota vs Dante
#319 vs #308 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Dante is a whisker ahead (#308 vs #319 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Dakota and Dante each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1900s: Dakota —, Dante #1067 — Dante higher
- 1910s: Dakota —, Dante #796 — Dante higher
- 1920s: Dakota —, Dante #730 — Dante higher
- 1930s: Dakota —, Dante #1206 — Dante higher
- 1940s: Dakota —, Dante #1204 — Dante higher
- 1950s: Dakota —, Dante #1024 — Dante higher
- 1960s: Dakota #4042, Dante #695 — Dante higher
- 1970s: Dakota #2620, Dante #479 — Dante higher
- 1980s: Dakota #985, Dante #407 — Dante higher
- 1990s: Dakota #90, Dante #297 — Dakota higher
- 2000s: Dakota #155, Dante #268 — Dakota higher
- 2010s: Dakota #340, Dante #301 — Dante higher
- 2020s: Dakota #334, Dante #311 — Dante higher
Dante stood higher in 11 of 13 decades; Dante has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Dakota | Dante |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | — | #1067 |
| 1910s | — | #796 |
| 1920s | — | #730 |
| 1930s | — | #1206 |
| 1940s | — | #1204 |
| 1950s | — | #1024 |
| 1960s | #4042 | #695 |
| 1970s | #2620 | #479 |
| 1980s | #985 | #407 |
| 1990s | #90 | #297 |
| 2000s | #155 | #268 |
| 2010s | #340 | #301 |
| 2020s | #334 | #311 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Dakota
friend, ally
From Dakȟóta, the self-designation of the Dakota people, one of the divisions of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (commonly called Sioux).
Dakȟóta → Dakota Territory → Dakota
How it traveled
Dakota is the name the Dakota people use for themselves, and the word carries the sense of allies or friends — kin bound to one another. English speakers borrowed it as a geographic label: Dakota Territory was organized in 1861, and in 1889 it was divided into the two states that keep the name today.
Dante
enduring, lasting
Dante is a contracted form of the Italian name Durante, which comes from Latin durans, durante — 'enduring'.
Durans (Latin) → Durante (Italian) → Dante
How it traveled
The name begins as Latin durans, 'enduring', which gave medieval Italy the given name Durante; Dante is the clipped everyday version of it. Its fame rests on one man: Durante degli Alighieri of Florence, known to everyone as Dante, who finished the Divine Comedy in the early fourteenth century and in doing so helped fix the Tuscan dialect as the Italian language.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Dakota
duh-KOH-tuh
Three syllables, stress on the second — identical to the two states, so it needs no explaining in the US.
- Kota — The most-used short form for either sex; also given occasionally as a standalone name.
- Dak — Clipped, informal, more often heard for boys.
- Kodi — A phonetic short form some families use; overlaps in sound with the separate name Cody.
Dante
DAHN-tay
DAHN-tay follows the Italian and is the standard American pronunciation. An older English tradition said the poet's name as DAN-tee, and you will still hear that from readers who met the name first in print.
- Dan — The most common informal clip; also a standalone given name in its own right, usually from Daniel.
- Danny — Informal and often used within families; more common for children than for adults.
- D — Initial-only nickname, mostly among friends and teammates rather than at home.
- Tay — Informal, drawn from the second syllable; used within families rather than publicly.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Dakota if you want…
- a name fewer children share#319 in 2025 — dakota will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 27 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itDakota runs 3 syllables, Dante 2
Choose Dante if you want…
- a name most people already know#308 in 2025, 1,104 babies that year
- a name holding steadyDante is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesDante is 2 syllables to Dakota's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Dakota
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are already known to nearly every American, thanks to the two states — rarely misheard, rarely respelled.
- Works unchanged for a boy or a girl, with no separate feminine or masculine form to choose between.
- Has real short forms in use — Kota, Dak — for the times a three-syllable name is one syllable too many.
To consider
- The near-even gender split means the name alone won't tell a teacher, a coach or a form-reader which child is coming. Some parents like that; others find themselves clarifying often, and it tends to fall harder on whichever side is smaller in a given town.
- This is the living name of a living nation, not a decorative word. Some Dakota people have written about non-Native use of it. That is worth reading about honestly before you decide, rather than after.
- In much of the country the name still reads as a place first — the state, the plains, the highway sign. That association is warm for many people, but it is unlikely to fade.
Dante
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English — one spelling that works across all of them.
- Short and fully pronounceable as it stands, so no nickname is required, though Dan and Danny are ready if wanted.
- A documented literary anchor in Dante Alighieri, which gives the name a story most people already half-know.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations exist: DAHN-tay and the older bookish DAN-tee. Most Americans reach for DAHN-tay, but expect the occasional correction.
- The literary association runs strong toward the Inferno, and 'Dante's inferno' turns up in film, games and jokes. Some children enjoy that; others tire of hearing it.
- Dan and Danny are the natural short forms, and both are far more often heard as short for Daniel — which can lead to a small, lifelong round of clarifying.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Dakota and Dante in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Dakota and Dante?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Dakota and Dante — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Dakota or Dante — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Dakota or Dante?
- Dante, in 2025: Dante ranked #308 with 1,104 babies; Dakota ranked #319 with 1,074 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Dakota or Dante?
- Dakota. Over the last five years Dakota moved up 27 places; Dante moved down 7 places.
- Which is the older name, Dakota or Dante?
- Dakota entered the US charts in 1966; Dante entered the US charts in 1908. On the American record, Dante is the older name.
- How many people are named Dakota and Dante?
- About 91,000 people named Dakota are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 48,500 people named Dante are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Dakotas or Dantes in the classroom?
- Dakota will almost certainly be the only one in school. Dante will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Dakota, Dante and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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