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Dakota

Native American tribe and place name; Sioux
"friendly one"
Linda Rosenkrantz
By Linda Rosenkrantz
Updated Tue Sep 30 2025

Dakota Origin and Meaning

The name Dakota is a girl's name of Native American origin meaning "friendly one".

A Native American tribe name which is found in the names of two US states, Dakota was one of the first trendy nineties place names, but is now flagging a little in popularity. The cultural question around using a Native American tribe name as a baby name may be partly to blame.

Young actress Dakota Fanning helped give it a feminine spin; Rosie O'Donnell chose it for her newborn daughter. Interestingly, Dakota is one of those rare trulyunisex baby names used for almost exactly equal numbers of girls and boys.

# 272 in the US

Dakota Rank in US Top 1000

# 1461 on Nameberry

Dakota Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Dakota

20 Names Similar to Dakota

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Dakota.

Famous People Named Dakota

  • (Hannah) Dakota Fanning
    American actress
  • Dakota Johnson
    American actress; daughter of actor Don Johnson
  • Dakota Staton
    American jazz singer
  • Dakota Blue Richards
    British actress
  • Dakota Ulissa Culkin
    sister of actor Macaulay Culkin
  • Dakota O'Donnell
    daughter of Rosie O'Donnell and Michelle Rounds
  • Dakota Runnels
    daughter of pro wrestlers Dustin and Terri Runnels
  • Dakota Woodside (b. 2009)
    daughter of actors D.B. Woodside and Golden Brooks

The name Dakota in Pop Culture

  • North Dakota
    American state
  • South Dakota
    American state
  • Dakota Whitney
    character from"The X Files: I Want to Believe"
  • Dakota
    song from pop punk band A Rocket to the Moon
  • Dakota Condor
    character from tv show "Sonny with a Chance"

The name Dakota in Nameberry Blog Posts