Nakota
- Gender
- Mostly boys
- Say it
- nuh-KOH-tuh
- Origin
- Native American
- US rank, 2025
- #10,690 for boys
Nakota is a name of Native American origin, meaning “friend, ally”. In 2025 it ranked 10,690th for boys in the US (6 babies).
What does Nakota mean?
Native American: Siouan people's name for themselves
“friend, ally”
The Nakota are a Sioux people of the northern Plains, related to the Dakota and Lakota.
Is Nakota a girl's or a boy's name?
In recent years, Nakota has been given to girls and boys, mostly boys. In 2025, it was given to 6 boys in the US.
How popular is Nakota in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #10,690among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 6about 1 in 280,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 6 boys in the US were named Nakota, making it the 10,690th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 6,616th. Its busiest year was 2016, with 15 boys. It first appears in the records in 1991.
Half of all the boys named Nakota in the US since 1880 were born between 1999 and 2017, the years shaded on the chart below.
Nakota in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | #10,690 |
| 2024 | 6 | #10,930 |
| 2023 | 7 | #9,757 |
| 2022 | 7 | #9,815 |
| 2021 | 10 | #7,582 |
| 2020 | 12 | #6,616 |
| 2019 | 12 | #6,772 |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 10 | #7,542 |
| 2016 | 15 | #5,785 |
| 2015 | 9 | #8,035 |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 7 | #9,650 |
| 2012 | 7 | #9,703 |
| 2011 | 8 | #8,760 |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 6 | #10,989 |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 6 | #10,915 |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 10 | #7,089 |
| 2004 | 6 | #9,941 |
| 2003 | 5 | #10,886 |
| 2002 | 10 | #6,515 |
| 2001 | 9 | #6,928 |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 13 | #5,029 |
| 1998 | 8 | #6,837 |
| 1997 | 6 | #8,104 |
| 1996 | 5 | #9,008 |
| 1995 | 7 | #6,985 |
| 1994 | 7 | #6,962 |
| 1993 | 7 | #6,809 |
| 1992 | 11 | #4,864 |
| 1991 | 9 | #5,513 |
Names like Nakota
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Dakota Tru Kota Kairo Yug Yuri Mikko Loki Yitzchok Ryu Zuko Minh
Names related to Nakota
More Native American names
Tallulah Nayeli Winona Kenai Cree Xochitl Xitlali Citlali Alaska Talulah Sequoia Denali Tennessee Dakoda Lakota Wynonna
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Nakota: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/nakota, updated 20 October 2026.