Dakotah
Masculine · “allies”
Dakotah is given to both — 3,151 boys and 2,314 girls since 1880. See Dakotah as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Dakota is the name a living people use for themselves, and in their language it means allies — the same word behind Lakota and Nakota, three dialects of one nation.
How old is the name Dakotah?
Dakotah first appears in US birth records in 1979 — 46 years ago. The typical Dakotah alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 3,100 people named Dakotah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dakotah most popular?
Dakotah peaked in 1994, reaching #728 nationally. Today it ranks #3949, 3,221 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Where it comes from
From Dakhóta to Dakotah
The story of Dakotah
The Dakota are one of the divisions of the Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires, and the two American states took the nation's name in 1889. The word entered American given naming in the twentieth century from outside the community, largely through the state names and film. Families considering it should know that many Dakota people regard the use of the nation's name as a given name by outsiders as inappropriate.
Meaning
allies, friends
From the Dakota word for an ally or friend; Dakota, Lakota and Nakota are the same word in the three dialect groups of the Oceti Sakowin, and the sense is a relationship of alliance rather than a place.
How the name formed
- Dakhóta
- Dakota
- Dakotah
Related forms: Dakhóta · Lakȟóta
Pronouncing Dakotah
dah-KOH-tah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Dakota itself has a sound in the middle English does not use.
Nicknames for Dakotah
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
- 1979
- Most boys named
- 1994207 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #728reached in 1994
- Change vs 2024
- +28.6%27 in 2025, from 21
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.
Dakotah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dakhóta in Dakota — same name
- Lakȟóta in Lakota — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, North Carolina, Michigan.
Dakotahs among us
people named Dakotah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was named Dakotah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Dakotah
- #3949
- Dakotah on the 2025 chart
- #303
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Dakotah went to 27 boys in 2025, but Dakota is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 1,101, which makes it the 303rd most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,646 places above the chart.
- Dakota1,074
- Dakotah27
About 1 boy in 1,551 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 63,262 for Dakotah 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 Lorenza test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dakotah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lorenza climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lorenza's path sketches the road Dakotah is walking now.
Dakotah 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 Dakotah is headed
Dakotah is easing off slowly — about 15% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Dakotah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dakotah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning in a living language, and a genuinely good one — allies.
- Kota is a usable short form in current American use.
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- It is a living nation's name for itself, and many Dakota people object to its use by outsiders.
- This is worth asking about rather than assuming, and the answer belongs to that community.
- It is used for both sexes, so forms may guess wrong.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Dakotah
Masculine · #3949 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dakotahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Dakotah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Dakotah?
- Dakotah is one of 2 recorded spellings. Dakota is the more common one — 1,074 births in 2025 against 27 for Dakotah.
- How popular is the name Dakotah in 2025?
- Dakotah ranks #3949 among US boy names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dakotah?
- About 1 in every 63,262 US boys born in 2025 was named Dakotah — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dakotah with classmates?
- Dakotah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dakotah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stewart#3949 · Tillman#3949 · Ashley#3949 · Alfonzo#3949 · Blane#3949 · Brayton#3949 · Omega#3949 · Rufus#3949
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dakotah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dakotah and another name?
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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