Dakota
#295 for girls in 2025, 1,035 births · #319 for boys in 2025, 1,074 births
Given to boys 69.2% of the time
- Peak · boys
- 1995 · 6,575 births
- Debut · boys
- 5 births
- In top 100 · boys
- 9 yrsof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 93,118since 1966
Dakota over time
Rank within each sex, plotted together. Click any year to open it.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | #295 | 1,035 | #319 | 1,074 |
| 2024 | #273 | 1,160 | #326 | 1,060 |
| 2023 | #262 | 1,191 | #328 | 1,017 |
| 2022 | #259 | 1,210 | #347 | 945 |
| 2021 | #270 | 1,163 | #339 | 958 |
| 2020 | #257 | 1,175 | #346 | 920 |
| 2019 | #259 | 1,269 | #344 | 973 |
| 2018 | #246 | 1,322 | #349 | 944 |
| 2017 | #231 | 1,362 | #340 | 1,000 |
| 2016 | #227 | 1,417 | #376 | 874 |
| 2015 | #242 | 1,334 | #356 | 943 |
| 2014 | #283 | 1,149 | #357 | 894 |
| 2013 | #293 | 1,089 | #350 | 905 |
| 2012 | #307 | 1,039 | #328 | 961 |
| 2011 | #294 | 1,068 | #312 | 1,031 |
| 2010 | #285 | 1,142 | #292 | 1,142 |
| 2009 | #274 | 1,198 | #251 | 1,387 |
| 2008 | #266 | 1,288 | #226 | 1,645 |
| 2007 | #239 | 1,486 | #202 | 1,962 |
| 2006 | #190 | 1,839 | #172 | 2,367 |
| 2005 | #225 | 1,515 | #147 | 2,722 |
| 2004 | #277 | 1,180 | #137 | 2,918 |
| 2003 | #339 | 917 | #126 | 3,160 |
| 2002 | #323 | 952 | #107 | 3,487 |
| 2001 | #330 | 943 | #93 | 3,980 |
| 2000 | #296 | 1,086 | #88 | 4,553 |
| 1999 | #269 | 1,167 | #77 | 5,093 |
| 1998 | #246 | 1,242 | #72 | 5,401 |
| 1997 | #250 | 1,175 | #66 | 5,664 |
| 1996 | #274 | 1,055 | #58 | 6,067 |
| 1995 | #252 | 1,125 | #56 | 6,575 |
| 1994 | #305 | 895 | #69 | 5,535 |
| 1993 | #355 | 724 | #85 | 4,411 |
| 1992 | #346 | 752 | #103 | 3,613 |
| 1991 | #400 | 636 | #121 | 2,739 |
| 1990 | #596 | 380 | #195 | 1,551 |
| 1989 | #1,048 | 163 | #296 | 824 |
| 1988 | #1,409 | 99 | #363 | 554 |
| 1987 | #1,591 | 78 | #421 | 430 |
| 1986 | #1,638 | 72 | #488 | 320 |
| 1985 | #1,809 | 62 | #866 | 109 |
| 1984 | #3,990 | 19 | #1,174 | 60 |
| 1983 | #4,686 | 15 | #1,327 | 49 |
| 1982 | #5,209 | 13 | #1,487 | 42 |
| 1981 | #4,005 | 19 | #1,899 | 29 |
| 1980 | #3,318 | 25 | #1,524 | 40 |
| 1979 | #3,777 | 20 | #1,670 | 34 |
| 1978 | #4,459 | 15 | #1,203 | 55 |
| 1977 | #4,652 | 14 | #2,131 | 22 |
| 1976 | #5,215 | 11 | #2,601 | 16 |
| 1975 | #4,854 | 12 | #2,751 | 14 |
| 1974 | #6,258 | 8 | #3,837 | 8 |
| 1973 | #4,871 | 11 | #3,445 | 9 |
| 1972 | #7,292 | 6 | #2,659 | 13 |
| 1971 | #6,006 | 8 | — | |
| 1970 | — | #3,282 | 9 | |
| 1969 | — | — | ||
| 1968 | — | #4,136 | 5 | |
| 1967 | — | — | ||
| 1966 | #4,866 | 8 | #3,948 | 5 |
| 1965 | #4,494 | 9 | — | |
| 1964 | #6,009 | 6 | — | |
| 1963 | #6,592 | 5 | — | |
| 1962 | #4,533 | 9 | — | |
| 1961 | #3,608 | 13 | — | |
| 1960 | #3,512 | 13 | — | |
| 1959 | #2,596 | 20 | — | |
| 1958 | #3,747 | 11 | — | |
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| 1921 | #4,464 | 6 | — | |
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| 1915 | #3,134 | 8 | — | |
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| 1880 | — | — | ||
The first year at least five boys were named Dakota! It came in at #3,948, and was given to 5 baby boys.
Quietest stretch: 1966–1969, when fewer than 6 boys a year got the name.
Where Dakota is popular in 1978
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- California#1,333 · 1 in 33,785
Best ever in a state: #15 in Oklahoma, 1997.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | #1,333 | 5 | 1 in 33,785 |
| Alabama | — | — | — |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arizona | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | — | — | — |
| Colorado | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | — | — | — |
| Delaware | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | — | — | — |
| Florida | — | — | — |
| Georgia | — | — | — |
| Hawaii | — | — | — |
| Idaho | — | — | — |
| Illinois | — | — | — |
| Indiana | — | — | — |
| Iowa | — | — | — |
| Kansas | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | — | — | — |
| Louisiana | — | — | — |
| Maine | — | — | — |
| Maryland | — | — | — |
| Massachusetts | — | — | — |
| Michigan | — | — | — |
| Minnesota | — | — | — |
| Mississippi | — | — | — |
| Missouri | — | — | — |
| Montana | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | — | — | — |
| Nevada | — | — | — |
| New Hampshire | — | — | — |
| New Jersey | — | — | — |
| New Mexico | — | — | — |
| New York | — | — | — |
| North Carolina | — | — | — |
| North Dakota | — | — | — |
| Ohio | — | — | — |
| Oklahoma | — | — | — |
| Oregon | — | — | — |
| Pennsylvania | — | — | — |
| Rhode Island | — | — | — |
| South Carolina | — | — | — |
| South Dakota | — | — | — |
| Tennessee | — | — | — |
| Texas | — | — | — |
| Utah | — | — | — |
| Vermont | — | — | — |
| Virginia | — | — | — |
| Washington | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the boys born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Dakota
- 7 spots since 2024 (#326 → #319)
- 27 spots since 2020 (#346 → #319)
- 37 spots since 2015 (#356 → #319)
- Biggest jump: 378 spots in 1986 (#866 → #488)
- Biggest drop: 41 spots in 2010 (#251 → #292)
- Debuted 1966
- Peaked 1995 at #56 (6,575 births)
- Births halved by 2003, 8 yrs later
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: 9 yrs · run 1993–2001
- Top 1,000: 41 yrs · run 1985–2025
- Highest: 1 in 290 boys born in 1995 were named Dakota (0.35%)
- Latest: 1 in 1,590 boys born in 2025 (0.06%)
- 50.1% of all boys named Dakota (46,649) were born in this decade
- Mostly girls until 2024, mostly boys since
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 10 | #3,948 (1966) | #4,042 |
| 1970s | 180 | #1,203 (1978) | #2,620 |
| 1980s | 2,457 | #296 (1989) | #985 |
| 1990s | 46,649 | #56 (1995) | #90 |
| 2000s | 28,181 | #88 (2000) | #155 |
| 2010s | 9,667 | #292 (2010) | #340 |
| 2020s | 5,974 | #319 (2025) | #334 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Dakota in 1978
Top girls' names in 1978
Top boys' names in 1978
More about 1978
girls
1,531,859 girls got a published name in 1978; 1 in 102,124 of them was named Dakota, which outranked 61.1% of the 11,475 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 16.5% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).
- #4,242Wanita16
- #4,242Xavier16
- #4,242Zenia16
- #4,459Dakota15
- #4,459Adelia15
- #4,459Akesha15
- #4,459Akira15
- #4,679Addy14
- #4,679Aiyana14
- #4,679Akila14
Tied with 219 names at #4,459; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.
boys
1,641,837 boys got a published name in 1978; 1 in 29,852 of them was named Dakota, which outranked 82.2% of the 6,762 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 24.6% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).
- #1,186Torry56
- #1,186Wiley56
- #1,186Willy56
- #1,203Dakota55
- #1,203Anibal55
- #1,203Brody55
- #1,203Demetrice55
- #1,214Amin54
- #1,214Antone54
- #1,214Basil54
Tied with 10 names at #1,203; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.