Dakari
Masculine · “Most often linked to Shona Dakarai”
Dakari is given to both — 4,326 boys and 200 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Three syllables that land on a rolled-open middle — duh-KAR-ee — and an ending shared with Amari, Omari and Kamari, a whole cluster of names that grew up together in American nurseries. It sits close to Dakarai, a Shona name from Zimbabwe, and close to Dakar on the Senegalese coast, without being wholly claimed by either. Long enough to sound complete, short enough to shout across a yard.
How old is the name Dakari?
Dakari first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Dakari is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 4,300 people named Dakari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dakari most popular?
Dakari peaked in 2020, reaching #665 nationally. Today it ranks #837, 172 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Dakari
Dakari belongs to a family of names that took shape in the United States rather than arriving whole from anywhere else. Its nearest documented relative is Dakarai, a Shona given name from Zimbabwe, and the two have circulated side by side in American name books for decades. Around the same stretch, English-speaking parents were building and trading a large group of -ari names — Amari, Omari, Jamari, Kamari — some with African or Arabic roots, some invented within the pattern, all sharing the same closing music. Dakari sits inside that group: a name with a foot in Shona and a foot in American English, which is a genuinely unusual place for a name to stand.
Meaningscholars disagree
Most often linked to Shona Dakarai, "rejoice"
Two readings compete. One takes Dakari as a trimmed spelling of Dakarai, a Shona name from Zimbabwe recorded with the sense "rejoice, be happy" — the closest documented relative. The other treats it as an American formation on the -ari pattern that produced Amari, Jamari and Kamari, in which case the sound came first and no separate meaning attaches. The resemblance to Dakar, the Senegalese capital, is real but not evidence of descent.
Pronouncing Dakari
duh-KAR-ee
Stress on the middle syllable, as in Amari and Omari. Some families say DAK-uh-ree instead, with the weight up front — both are used, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
Nicknames for Dakari
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1974
- Most boys named
- 2020396 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #665reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- −6.6%295 in 2025, from 316
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Dakari in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dakarai in Shona — related form
- Omari in Swahili — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, Illinois.
Dakaris among us
people named Dakari are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 5,790 born in 2025 was named Dakari
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Dakari
- #837
- Dakari on the 2025 chart
- #575
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Dakari went to 295 boys in 2025, but Dakhari, Dacari and Dakarri and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 390, which makes it the 575th most-given boys’ name of the year — 262 places above the chart.
- Dakari295
- Dakhari42
- Dacari30
- Dakarri13
- Dacarri5
- Dakarii5
About 1 boy in 4,380 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 5,790 for Dakari itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jefferey test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dakari's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jefferey climbed just as high around 1969, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jefferey's path sketches the road Dakari is walking now.
Dakari sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Dakari is headed
Dakari should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Dakari beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dakari in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spells the way it sounds for most American readers; no silent letters and no competing spellings to explain.
- Rhythmically at home beside Amari, Omari and Jamari, so teachers and coaches already have the sound in their ear.
- Carries a documented tie to Dakarai, a Shona name from Zimbabwe, for families who want a thread to that history.
- Shortens cleanly to Dak without anyone needing to be taught it.
- He will almost certainly be the only Dakari in his school, and probably the first one most adults he meets have encountered. That means introductions get repeated, and it also means the name stays his.
- Two stress patterns are in circulation — duh-KAR-ee and DAK-uh-ree — so expect to correct people, gently and often.
- Dakota is close enough in sound and shape that it will be the most common misheard substitute, along with Dakarai for anyone who knows that spelling.
- The meaning is not fully settled, so if you want to tell him what his name means, you will be telling him about a link rather than a translation.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Dakari
Masculine · #837 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dakaris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,300 people named Dakari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Dakari?
- Dakari is the most-used spelling in US records — 295 of the 390 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Dakhari, Dacari, Dakarri, Dacarri and Dakarii.
- How popular is the name Dakari in 2025?
- Dakari ranks #837 among US boy names in 2025, with 295 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dakari?
- About 1 in every 5,790 US boys born in 2025 was named Dakari — 295 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dakari with classmates?
- Dakari will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dakari
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Alvin#838 · Yadiel#838 · Cayson#835 · Kaiser#835 · Alfred#840 · Casen#840 · Benny#840 · Avi#832
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dakari? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dakari and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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