Lakota
Masculine · “allies”
Lakota is given to both — 1,556 boys and 1,689 girls since 1880. See Lakota as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Lakota is the name a living people use for themselves, and in their own language it means allies — the word for those who are joined together.
How old is the name Lakota?
Lakota first appears in US birth records in 1978 — 47 years ago. The typical Lakota alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 1,500 people named Lakota are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lakota most popular?
Lakota peaked in 1997, reaching #1519 nationally. Today it ranks #3848, 2,329 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Lakota
The Lakota are one of the three divisions of the Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires, and the name is what they call themselves — it is a nation's name, in current use, by people who are here. The word entered American given naming in the twentieth century from outside the community. Families considering it should know that many Lakota people regard the use of the nation's name as a given name by outsiders as inappropriate.
Meaning
allies, friends
From the Lakota word for an ally or friend; the same root gives Dakota and Nakota, the three dialect groups of one people, and the word describes a relationship of alliance rather than a place or a lineage.
Pronouncing Lakota
lah-KOH-tah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Lakota itself has a sound in the middle English does not use.
Nicknames for Lakota
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
- 1978
- Most boys named
- 199768 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1519reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- −9.7%28 in 2025, from 31
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.
Lakota in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lakȟóta in Lakota — same name
- Dakhóta in Dakota — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Lakotas among us
people named Lakota are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 61,003 born in 2025 was named Lakota
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Baltazar test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lakota's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Baltazar climbed just as high around 1948, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Baltazar's path sketches the road Lakota is walking now.
Lakota 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 Lakota is headed
Lakota 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.
Lakota beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lakota 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 Lakota 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 in American records, so forms may guess wrong.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Lakota
Masculine · #3848 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lakotas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Lakota are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lakota in 2025?
- Lakota ranks #3848 among US boy names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lakota?
- About 1 in every 61,003 US boys born in 2025 was named Lakota — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lakota with classmates?
- Lakota will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lakota
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Armand#3848 · Tracy#3848 · Stafford#3848 · Dewey#3848 · Donny#3848 · Trevion#3848 · Coltyn#3848 · Isreal#3848
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lakota? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lakota and another name?
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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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