Nakota
/nəˈkoʊtə/noun
A dialect group and self-name used by some Indigenous peoples of the Sioux linguistic family.
Did you know?Nakota is part of the wider Siouan naming system, and its meaning is tied to group identity rather than a spooky literal compound—power here comes from the endurance of the name itself.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Siouan
PS
*na·kóda
“An ancestral self-designation reconstructed for part of the Sioux language family, likely meaning 'ally' or 'friend' in related forms.”
Historical Sioux languages
Siouan
nakóta
“A group name used by certain communities within the Sioux linguistic continuum.”
19th Century
English
Nakota
“An ethnonym and linguistic label recorded by English-speaking writers and researchers.”
Modern English
English
Nakota
“The contemporary English form used for a dialect group and self-name within the Sioux family.”
Explore more surprising origins