Lakota
Name in the Lakota language meaning "friend" or "ally".
Name Census estimates that about 3,125 living Americans carry the first name Lakota. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 51.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Lakota today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lakota births was 1997 (148 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lakota. 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 Lakota with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Lakota sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 109,681 Americans
Peak year
1997
148 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,642
Tracked since 1978
Census
Lakota in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,346 people with the first name Lakota, which placed it at #6,742 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
#6,742
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lakota
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lakota is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (15.2%) and Two or More Races (13.6%). 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 Lakota 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 Lakota at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.1% · 1,434
- American Indian and Alaska Native15.2% · 357
- Two or more races13.6% · 320
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 161
- Black or African American2.8% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Lakota
Lakota is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,174 total registrations, 1,528 (48.1%) were male and 1,646 (51.9%) were female.
Lakota as a male name
- Ranked #3,642 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (68 births)
Lakota as a female name
- Ranked #5,212 in 2024
- 25 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (80 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lakota on both sides of the split. Of the 2,348 people counted with this name, 1,071 were male (45.6%) and 1,277 were female (54.4%).
Popularity
Lakota: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lakota from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,015 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Lakota remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lakota 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 Lakota during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lakotas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Oklahoma, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Lakota, while Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lakota
The name Lakota originates from the Native American language of the same name, spoken by the Lakota people, a group of Native American tribes that historically inhabited the Great Plains region of North America. The word "Lakota" itself means "friend" or "ally" in their language.
The Lakota people have a rich cultural history that dates back centuries, and their language has been an integral part of their identity. The name Lakota is believed to have been in use since the late 17th century when the Lakota people first emerged as a distinct group within the broader Sioux nation.
While the name Lakota is not particularly common in historical records or ancient texts, it has been documented in various sources related to the history and culture of the Native American tribes of the Great Plains region. Some notable historical figures who bore the name Lakota include:
1. Lakota (c. 1830-1890), a prominent chief of the Oglala Lakota tribe, who was known for his leadership and role in the resistance against the encroachment of white settlers on Native American lands.
2. Lakota Woman (c. 1854-1890), also known as Zitkala-Sa, was a Yankton Sioux writer, editor, and activist who played a significant role in promoting Native American rights and education.
3. Lakota Harden (1910-1987), a Lakota artist and painter, was renowned for his depictions of Native American life and culture.
4. Lakota Kawachinzhina (c. 1854-1928), a Hunkpapa Lakota chief and member of the Sioux tribe, who participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn against the U.S. Army in 1876.
5. Lakota Cloudshield (c. 1875-1945), a Lakota warrior and scout, who served as an interpreter and guide for the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars of the late 19th century.
These individuals, along with countless others who bore the name Lakota, played significant roles in the history and cultural preservation of the Lakota people and their traditions.
People
Lakota + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lakota as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lakota: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lakota?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,125 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lakota 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 109,681 US residents.
Is Lakota a common name?
We classify Lakota as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,174 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lakota most popular?
The single biggest year for Lakota was 1997, when 148 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lakota 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 Lakota in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,346 people with the name Lakota, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,742 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 Lakota 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 Lakota?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lakota on both sides of the split. Of the 2,348 people counted with this name, 1,071 were male (45.6%) and 1,277 were female (54.4%). 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 Lakota?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lakota is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (15.2%) and Two or More Races (13.6%). 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 Lakota most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lakota in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.1% (1,434 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 Lakota in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lakota a female name?
Yes, 51.9% of people registered as Lakota in the SSA data are female. 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 Lakota still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lakota 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 Lakota 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 have the name Lakota?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.