Dakoda
A name derived from the Dakota Sioux Native American tribe name.
Name Census estimates that about 4,112 living Americans carry the first name Dakoda. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Dakoda today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dakoda births was 2006 (191 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dakoda. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dakoda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 83,355 Americans
Peak year
2006
191 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,994
Tracked since 1986
Census
Dakoda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,006 people with the first name Dakoda, which placed it at #5,629 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,629
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,006 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dakoda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dakoda is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.9%) and Hispanic (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dakoda described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dakoda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.4% · 2,267
- Two or more races8.9% · 269
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 202
- Black or African American6.3% · 189
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 75
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Dakoda
Dakoda is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,174 total registrations, 3,285 (78.7%) were male and 889 (21.3%) were female.
Dakoda as a male name
- Ranked #1,994 in 2024
- 77 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (153 births)
Dakoda as a female name
- Ranked #4,905 in 2024
- 27 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (60 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dakoda on both sides of the split. Of the 3,002 people counted with this name, 2,362 were male (78.7%) and 640 were female (21.3%).
Popularity
Dakoda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dakoda from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,468 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dakoda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dakoda by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dakoda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dakodas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Dakoda, while Minnesota, Louisiana, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dakoda
The name Dakoda is a modern invented name that does not have a clear origin from any particular language or culture. It is likely a creative spelling variation of the name Dakota, which is derived from the Sioux Native American tribe known as the Dakota or Lakota people.
While the name Dakota has its roots in the Siouan languages spoken by these tribes, the name Dakoda itself does not appear to have any direct historical or linguistic significance. It is a relatively recent creation, possibly inspired by the name Dakota but with a unique spelling.
There are no known historical references or appearances of the name Dakoda in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. Its usage as a given name is a modern phenomenon, likely emerging in the late 20th century or early 21st century.
Due to the lack of historical records, it is difficult to pinpoint the earliest recorded examples of the name Dakoda or famous individuals who bore this name throughout history. However, here are a few notable people with the name Dakoda from recent times:
1. Dakoda Brookes-Milton (born 1993), Canadian actress known for her role in the television series "Supernatural".
2. Dakoda Buttrey (born 1990), American professional baseball player.
3. Dakoda Browne (born 1994), American professional racing driver.
4. Dakoda Brown (born 1996), American football player.
5. Dakoda Shepley (born 1995), Canadian actress known for her role in the television series "The Latest Buzz".
It is important to note that the name Dakoda, being a modern invention, does not have a rich historical legacy or deep cultural significance. Its popularity and usage are relatively recent phenomena, and its future prominence will depend on contemporary naming trends and preferences.
People
Dakoda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dakoda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dakoda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dakoda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,112 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dakoda going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 83,355 US residents.
Is Dakoda a common name?
We classify Dakoda as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,174 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dakoda most popular?
The single biggest year for Dakoda was 2006, when 191 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dakoda is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dakoda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,006 people with the name Dakoda, or 1.00 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,629 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dakoda in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dakoda?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dakoda on both sides of the split. Of the 3,002 people counted with this name, 2,362 were male (78.7%) and 640 were female (21.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dakoda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dakoda is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.9%) and Hispanic (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dakoda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dakoda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.4% (2,267 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dakoda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dakoda a male name?
Yes, 78.7% of people registered as Dakoda in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dakoda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dakoda in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dakoda can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Dakoda?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.