Kota is best known in the United States as a short form of Dakota, the name of the Sioux people, whose own word means "friend" or "ally". It is also an independent Japanese boys' name, Kōta, written with various kanji, which gives it a second life far from the Great Plains. Kota has risen steadily from number 3192 in 2015 to number 1831 in 2025, just short of its best rank of 1820 from 2023.