Takoda
Of Native American origin, meaning "friend to everyone" or "he is ambitious".
Name Census estimates that about 1,852 living Americans carry the first name Takoda. It is a predominantly male name (93.1% of registrations). The average person named Takoda today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Takoda births was 1998 (104 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Takoda. 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 Takoda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Takoda is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 185,073 Americans
Peak year
1998
104 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,494
Tracked since 1993
Census
Takoda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,351 people with the first name Takoda, which placed it at #10,017 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
#10,017
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,351 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Takoda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takoda is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (18.4%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (11.9%). 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 Takoda 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 Takoda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.3% · 734
- Two or more races18.4% · 249
- American Indian and Alaska Native11.9% · 161
- Hispanic or Latino9.9% · 134
- Black or African American4.4% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Takoda
Takoda leans heavily male at 93.1% of total registrations, but 129 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Takoda as a male name
- Ranked #2,494 in 2024
- 55 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (104 births)
Takoda as a female name
- Ranked #15,021 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Takoda leans strongly male. 1,223 people counted with this name were male (90.9%), compared with 122 female bearers (9.1%).
Popularity
Takoda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Takoda from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 682 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Takoda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Takoda 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 Takoda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Takodas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Michigan, Oregon recorded the most babies named Takoda, while Washington, New York, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Takoda
The name Takoda originates from the Sioux Native American language and culture. It is believed to have emerged in the late 17th or early 18th century among the Sioux tribes inhabiting the Great Plains region of what is now the United States and Canada. The name is derived from the Sioux word "thakoza," which means "friend to all" or "he who meets others in a friendly way."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Takoda can be found in the journals of French-Canadian explorer and fur trader Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, who encountered a Sioux chief named Takoda during his travels through the Great Plains in the early 1700s. Gaultier's detailed accounts of his interactions with Takoda and his tribe provide valuable insights into the cultural significance of the name during that era.
In the 19th century, the name gained further recognition when Takoda, a respected Sioux chief known for his diplomatic skills and commitment to peace, played a pivotal role in negotiating treaties between his tribe and the United States government. His efforts helped establish peaceful relations and paved the way for the recognition of Sioux land rights and sovereignty.
Notable historical figures named Takoda include Takoda Cikala (1855-1932), a prominent Sioux warrior and leader who fought alongside Chief Sitting Bull in the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877. Takoda Cikala is remembered for his bravery and unwavering dedication to preserving the Sioux way of life in the face of encroaching settlers and the U.S. government's efforts to confine Native Americans to reservations.
Another notable Takoda was Takoda Washte (1867-1941), a Sioux artist and historian who dedicated his life to documenting and preserving the rich cultural heritage of his people. His intricate drawings and paintings depicting Sioux ceremonies, legends, and daily life provide invaluable insights into the traditions and worldview of the Sioux during a time of immense change and upheaval.
In more recent times, Takoda Black Elk (1942-2018), a revered Sioux spiritual leader and activist, carried on the legacy of his ancestors by advocating for Native American rights and promoting the revival of traditional Sioux practices and ceremonies. His teachings and writings on Sioux spirituality and the importance of environmental stewardship have inspired generations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike.
People
Takoda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Takoda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Takoda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Takoda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,852 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Takoda 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 185,073 US residents.
Is Takoda a common name?
We classify Takoda as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,874 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Takoda most popular?
The single biggest year for Takoda was 1998, when 104 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Takoda is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Takoda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,351 people with the name Takoda, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,017 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 Takoda 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 Takoda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Takoda leans strongly male. 1,223 people counted with this name were male (90.9%), compared with 122 female bearers (9.1%). 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 Takoda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Takoda is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (18.4%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (11.9%). 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 Takoda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Takoda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.3% (734 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 Takoda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Takoda a male name?
Yes, 93.1% of people registered as Takoda 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 Takoda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Takoda 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 Takoda 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 Takoda as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.