Dakota (given name)

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Dakota
Charles eastman smithsonian gn 03462a.jpg
Charles Eastman, a member of the Dakota tribe
GenderUnisex
Origin
Word/nameDakota
Meaning"friend", "friendly" or "allies"[1]
Other names
Related namesDakotah, Dacotah, Dakoda, Lakota, Nakota

Dakota is a unisex given name derived from the name of the indigenous Native American Dakota people, or from the name of two states in the United States, North Dakota and South Dakota, which are also derived from the Dakota people local to that area. The name is translated to mean "friend", "friendly" or "allies" in the Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee dialects of the Dakota language. [1][2]

It is also used as a substitution for the letter “D” in the phonetic alphabet of U.S. Army Cavalry units based on tradition dating back to the 1800s.

Popularity[]

The name has been in occasional use for both sexes in the United States since at least the 1940s. The name's popularity grew in the 1990s in the US. It was in the top 100 most popular boy names from 1993 to 2001, reaching its peak at number 56 in 1995.[3] Since 2010, it is slightly more frequently given to girls. As of 2016, it was the 233rd most common girl name and the 344th most common boy name.[4]

People with the name[]

Fictional[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b Online Etymology Dictionary
  2. ^ Dakota (2010), Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, retrieved May 4, 2010
  3. ^ Social Security Administration
  4. ^ Social Security Administration
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