Gender | Unisex |
---|---|
Origin | |
Word/name | Dakota |
Meaning | "friend", "friendly" or "allies" [1] |
Other names | |
Related names | Dakotah, Dacotah, Dakoda, Lakota, Nakota |
Dakota is a unisex given name derived from the name of the Native American Dakota people, or from the name of two states in the United States, North Dakota and South Dakota, which are also derived from the Dakota people indigenous to that area. The name is translated to mean "friend", "friendly" or "allies" in the Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee dialects of the Dakota language. [1] [2]
The name has been in occasional use for both sexes in the United States since the 1850s and 1860s, according to census records. It was part of a 19th century fashion for using unusual place names. [3] It is currently used in roughly equal numbers for both boys and girls in that country. [4] The name's popularity grew in the 1990s in the United States. It was among the top 100 most popular boy names from 1993 to 2001, reaching its peak at number 56 in 1995. [5] Since 2010, it has been slightly more frequently given to girls. As of 2021, it was the 270th most common girl name and the 344th most common boy name. [5]
Aubrey is a traditionally male English name. It was quite common in the Middle Ages, but had lost favour for a time before experiencing a resurgence of popularity in the 19th century.
Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ger- ("spear") and suffix -wald ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original name of Gerald of Mayo, a British Roman Catholic monk who established a monastery in Mayo, Ireland in 670. Nearly two centuries later, Gerald of Aurillac, a French count, took a vow of celibacy and later became known as the Roman Catholic patron saint of bachelors. The name was in regular use during the Middle Ages but declined after 1300 in England. It remained a common name in Ireland, where it was a common name among the powerful FitzGerald dynasty. The name was revived in the Anglosphere in the 19th century by writers of historical novels along with other names that had been popular in the medieval era. British novelist Ann Hatton published a novel called Gerald Fitzgerald in 1831. Author Dorothea Grubb published her novel Gerald Fitzgerald in 1845, and Irish author Charles Lever published his novel, also entitled Gerald Fitzgerald, in 1859. The name had strong associations with Ireland in English-speaking countries. In the United States, it increased in use for boys after 1910 and peaked in use in 1939, when it was the 19th most popular name given to American boys. Jerry is the usual short form of the name. Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Irish language Gearalt. Gerald is less common as a surname. The name is also found in French as Gérald. Geraldine is the feminine equivalent.
Amelia is a feminine given name. Its English form was likely influenced by the names Amalia, derived from the Germanic root amal, with meanings "vigorous, active, work", and Emilia, derived from the name of the Roman Aemilia gens. The name of the gens is likely derived from the Latin word aemulus, meaning rival. The name Amelia has been associated with both names, as well as with the name Emily, also derived from Emilia.
Brett is an Irish and English surname that was given to the Celtic peoples of Brittany who arrived during the Norman invasion of England and Norman invasion of Ireland respectively.
Chelsea is an English given name derived from the Old English place name ċealc hȳð, or the modern Celcyth, meaning chalk landing place. The name evolved to Chelsea, a location on the River Thames that became a London borough known for its wealthy, socially influential residents. Many locations have been named after the English place name Chelsea.
Devine is an Irish surname derived from Ní Dhaimhín / Ó Daimhín. Notable people with the surname include:
Parker is a surname of English origin, derived from Old French with the meaning 'keeper of the park'. "Parker" was also a nickname given to gamekeepers in medieval England. In the United States, it ranked in 1990 as the 47th most-common surname.
Rocco is both a given name and a surname. Origin: Italian. Meaning: Rest, repose. Rocco is a boy's name of Italian origin. It is thought to derive from the Old German word "hrok", which means to rest or repose. The name is associated with a fourteenth-century Catholic saint, San Rocco, who tended to the ill during a plague. Notable people with the name include:
Tristan, Tristram or Tristen is a given name derived from Welsh drust, influenced by the French word triste and Welsh/Cornish/Breton trist, both of which mean "bold" or "sad", "sorrowful".
Jacqueline is a given name, the French feminine form of Jacques, also commonly used in the English-speaking world. Older forms and variant spellings were sometimes given to men.
The given name Devon is of uncertain origin. It may be derived from either the English county Devon, or from the surname Devon. A feminine variant of the name is Devonne.
Hamill is a surname originally of Norman origin, a habitational name from Haineville or Henneville in Manche France named from the ancient Germanic personal name Hagano, Old French ville ‘settlement’.
Tammy is a feminine given name. It can be a short form of the names Tamsin, Thomasina, Thomasin, or Tamar, Tamara or other names starting with Tam. Tamsin, Thomasina, and Thomasin are feminine versions of the name Thomas, a Greek form of the Aramaic name Te'oma, meaning twin. Tamara is a Russian form of the Hebrew name Tamar, which means "palm tree". In Israel "Tami" (תמי) is commonly used as an abbreviation of the original Hebrew name.
Riley is a transferred use of an English surname derived from Old English ryge ‘rye’ + lēah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
Kennedy is a unisex given name in the English language. The name is an Anglicised form of a masculine given name in the Irish language.
Harley is a unisex given name. The name is derived from the Old English words hara meaning hare, and lēah, meaning wood or clearing and meadow in later development of the language. The name Harley means "hare's meadow".
Kara is both a given name and a surname with various, unrelated origins in various cultures.
Shawn is a unisex given name, an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternate spellings include Shawne, Shaun, Shon and Sean.
Kyle is an English-language given name, derived from the Scottish Gaelic surname Kyle, which is itself from a region in Ayrshire.
Regan is a unisex given name with multiple origins. It is a transferred use of the Irish surnames Regan and Reagan, which are Anglicized forms of Ó Riagáin, meaning ‘’descendant of Riagáin’’, a name of uncertain meaning. It might also be associated with the Irish language word ríogan, meaning queen. Use for girls was influenced by a character in William Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear. Regan was more commonly used for males in the Anglosphere in the 1800s. It came into occasional use for girls in the United States in the late 1940s. Usage of the name for American girls doubled after it was used for a character in the 1973 American supernatural horror film The Exorcist. The name was ranked among the top 1,000 names for American girls for the first time in 1974. Along with Reagan, the name dropped in popularity during the presidency of United States president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, when it was out of fashion to name children after presidents. The names Regan and Reagan, along with phonetic spelling variants such as Raegan and Raygan, all increased in use during the 1990s and remain in regular use for both boys and girls. In some instances, the name might have been seen as a less popular alternative to the name Megan.