Dakota...boy or girl?

Holly_1007 · June 2012

I don't know how to make a clicky poll, sorry.

When you hear the name Dakota do you think of it as a male or female?

MrsTBird · June 2012

I've only known a girl named Dakota so I see it as a girl's name, although I think it might have originally been a boy name... Not sure though.

PunkyBooster · June 2012

Mostly boy. It is a fine girl's name though.

I had a foster dog, a male husky, who I named Koda, which is why I associate it as a boy's name.

BrideBuddies · June 2012

State or Labrador Retriever.... Sorry... not a fan. I just can't see it aging well on someone. A 50-year old man named Dakota just seems odd.

But to answer your question, I guess I'd say girl because of Dakota Fanning.

mlf625 · June 2012

Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.

Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

chibride4 · June 2012

I immediately think girl, but like it more for a boy. However, in reality, I wouldn't use a unisex name for a boy. It's a double standard that I abide to, sadly.

imnoemilydi+ckinson · June 2012

Girl

elisabethb29 · June 2012

I definitely think boy. I don't think it is a good name for a child at all though.

PunkyBooster · June 2012

mlf625:
Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.
Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

It translates into the word "Friend" doesn't it? I think that is why I chose it for my husky foster.

I needed something eskimo-y so that was what I found LOL

aubreyan · June 2012

neither. dog.

plunderb · June 2012

I agree w/ pp who said dog. I know more dogs named Dakota than either boys or girls, so that's my first association. After that I would say boy.

I find Dakota sort of troubling because it has the whiff of cultural appropriation about it. It just rubs me the wrong way.

I'd just use Cody or something similar instead.

PunkyBooster · June 2012

OkayKelci:
mlf625:

Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.

Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

THIS. I lived there for almost 8 years...

Elaborate, please.

I have never been there.

gnomemom · June 2012

OkayKelci:
mlf625:

Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.

Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

THIS. I lived there for almost 8 years...

I go to SD every summer to dig for dinosaur bones. Dinosaurs = awesome, everything else in SD = not so much.

I really, really can't picture a grown man or woman named Dakota. It's cute on a little kid. It's even cuter on a dog.

Aubs0009 · June 2012

I know both, so I would say either.

Zimger · June 2012

I know two little boys and one little girl. I associate it with the ever widening array of unisex names. It's a nice name though. I think I prefer it on a boy (nn Koda).

ladybug122 · June 2012

Girl (Dakota Fanning)

LoCarb · June 2012

Girl. Also b/c I know a Dakota (female) IRL.

Taylor11 · June 2012

BrideBuddies:

State or Labrador Retriever.... Sorry... not a fan. I just can't see it aging well on someone. A 50-year old man named Dakota just seems odd.

But to answer your question, I guess I'd say girl because of Dakota Fanning.

This exactly. Will not bode well into adulthood.

BLuvsE · June 2012

Boy

gnomemom · June 2012

Joy2611:
gnomemom:
OkayKelci:
mlf625:

Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.

Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

I lived there for almost 8 years...

I go to SD every summer to dig for dinosaur bones. Dinosaurs = awesome, everything else in SD = not so much.

I really, really can't picture a grown man or woman named Dakota. It's cute on a little kid. It's even cuter on a dog.

Can I come? Do you go to the Badlands (or are they in Montana?)

Oh, and Dakota = state... not child's name.

You totally could come, actually. I go on the digs for work, but people can pay to come along and help. We sponsor trips for families and teachers.

It is in the badlands. There are badlands in MT, too. I've been on a dig there once before and found an awsome Gorgosaur claw that sadly became the property of my museum.

Sorry, folks. Dinosaur nerd here. Embarrassed

kjskjs · June 2012

I've known females and males with Dakota so really I land in the middle and am unsure. I would usually defer to the middle name for clarity. For me that is a very unisex name

quidditchcapn1120 · June 2012

Both. My stepbrother's name is Dakota and then of course there is Dakota Fanning.

RubyLou11 · June 2012

I think boy.

iadanza · June 2012

I think of a girl

sarahalyse · June 2012

I think girl...I named my female border collie Dakota.

I know a boy Dakota and to me it's weird but I met him after I got my dog.

KittyMarie219 · June 2012

mlf625:
Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.
Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

I would think someone might want to use the name if they were of Sioux NA descent or just had an interest in the culture. The name means "The allies" in their language, so that's really the only reasoning I can come up with.

https://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Dakota.html

That aside, I've known more boys than girls named Dakota and zero dogs with the name, but I always think of Dakota Fanning whenever I hear it. I'd guess I say the name is pretty unisex, IMO.

mlf625 · June 2012

PunkyBooster:
OkayKelci:
mlf625:

Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.

Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

THIS. I lived there for almost 8 years...
Elaborate, please.
I have never been there.

Well, it's farms. And more farms. And .... uh .... snow? And cold. It's very, very cold. This coming from someone who lives in Wisconsin - it's colder in ND. There's a very big cow and a very big buffalo and these are vacation destinations. I will say the people are nice. And UND is a good school. But mostly, ND is very .... farmy. And snowy. And cold.

I guess I don't love place names much to begin with. Austin is pretty much the coolest city out there, and the name Austin makes me cringe, too.

TripMomma · June 2012

I think girl.

lulamagoo · June 2012

I think of bears and dogs...

magsugar13 · June 2012

State

biden · June 2012

I know a little boy named this. He goes by koty.

scorch · June 2012

Boy and the one I know is a spoiled brat.

scorch · June 2012

But really, if you have to ask, it's probably not a good name

DawnJM25 · June 2012

I want to say boy, but I've only heard it on girls.

alohamora · June 2012

Dog.

Also I think of it as a very 90s name.

Wufroggy79 · June 2012

I have known both. Either way, it is a horrible name.

ilenegrace · June 2012

Boy but he spells it Dakotah

raefre · June 2012

Initially, I'd have said girl. But because of the amount of male Dakotas at work, I now associate it as male.

kirstinmb · June 2012

I think of it as a terrible name, regardless of the gender.

Sorry, but that's the truth, I grew up near 'the Dakotas', as in the States in the US, so that's what I think of. Naming your kid Dakota is just bizarre and terrible to me!

AlphabetFish · June 2012

Seems boyish to me, but then I knew a male Dakota.

sweetpea2003 · June 2012

I think dog. Then boy name. Then ugly girl name.

mlf625:

Girl, if I have a gun to my head and have to actually consider this a name.

Have you BEEN to the Dakotas? As someone who grew up in ND, I'd scratch my head at someone naming their child after the state, particularly if that person had no particular ties to it. I'd *maybe* consider it for a dog .... but again, I grew up and went to college there.

Do you feel that way about girls named Caroline or Virginia too? I don't necessarily disagree that Dakota is a bad name, but not because it is a "place" name. It certainly isn't the only state or city with lots of babies running around with that name. There are lots of great place names out there IMO (Caroline, Virginia, Charlotte, Austin, Everett) and then some bad ones too (Dakota being one of them).

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