The Reason North Dakota Keeps Trying to Drop ‘North’ From Its Name

Lawmakers tried to drop “North” from North Dakota’s name as far back as 1947.

It hasn’t worked yet, but the idea keeps coming back, and North Dakotans have heard every argument.

Here’s the reason North Dakota keeps trying to drop ‘North’ from its name, and how those efforts have gone.

1889 Split

North Dakota has carried its “North” since 1889, when Dakota Territory became two states.

President James Buchanan had signed the bill creating Dakota Territory in 1861.

Until 1889, the whole territory went by one name: Dakota, the Sioux word for “friend.”

Around 1877, some pushed to admit Dakota as one state and others as two.

The two-state plan won.

Chippewa, Pembina and Lincoln were also considered for the northern state, and Winona for the southern one, according to a 1989 Grand Forks Herald editorial.

Neither state would give up Dakota, so each kept it and picked up a compass point.

The compromise stuck.

That compass point is the word backers want gone.

Why Backers Want It

A recurring theme is an image problem: Backers say the word “North” makes the state sound cold.

Sen. Tim Mathern of Fargo, who led the 1989 push, has said the word “North” is what gets in the way.

Jim Fuglie, then the tourism director, has said the whole idea was to bring visitors.

Asked about the climate connotation of “north,” Fuglie likes to point out that a whole country lies north of the state.

Mathern told CNN in 2001 that people see North Dakota as always cold and close to the North Pole.

The Associated Press reported in 2001 that supporters also hoped to shake an image of a frigid, treeless prairie.

Business was another motive, since Mathern has said businesses were far likelier to use “Dakota” in their names.

Population loss was a third, since the state was struggling with it in 1989.

A 2001 Monitor report counted 17 of the 50 U.S. counties with the greatest population loss from 1990 to 2000 in North Dakota.

Advocates also hoped more tourists would want to visit.

Mathern also said Dakota captures the friendly side of the state.

Taken together, those motives circle the same problem: How the name may read to people who haven’t been there.

Early Tries

North Dakota’s Legislative Assembly defeated an attempt to drop “North” from the state’s name in 1947.

The resolution came before the state House.

The Herald reports that a car salesman and state representative named John Fleck pushed it.

In 1983, a Bismarck advertising executive named Milo Candee made national news by pushing the idea on billboards in Fargo and Bismarck.

Billboards can’t pass bills.

The state’s name hasn’t changed.

1989 Vote

North Dakota’s Senate took up two resolutions to rename the state “Dakota” in 1989.

The timing lined up with the state’s centennial.

Mathern led them, with two other senators and a House member signing on as sponsors.

A joint legislative committee recommended the amended version 7 to 3 in March.

If you’re picturing a close call, the roll call on March 21 says otherwise: 36 senators voted no and 15 voted yes.

The companion resolution died on a voice vote.

Critics called the proposal a marketing gimmick.

The Associated Press quoted Grand Forks senators Ray Holmberg and Wayne Stenehjem criticizing the plan.

Fuglie has said senators felt the idea might go a little too far.

Mathern has attributed the loss to an editorial he remembers running in the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead a few days before the vote.

2001 Push

North Dakota's next organized push came in 2001.

A statewide booster group called the Greater North Dakota Association backed cutting the name to plain "Dakota."

The pitch drew national coverage.

Former Gov. Ed Schafer said in 2001 that he thought the change would be fun.

By September 2001, a Federal Reserve article still described the proposal as a recommendation waiting for adoption.

CNN reported in June 2001 that Mathern expected his proposal to pick up speed in the 2003 session.

That is the latest organized push these sources document.

The last attempted revival by business leaders fizzled in 2001, a 2024 report said.

Efforts to put a name change before voters had lain dormant since 1989.

If you're waiting for a sequel, Mathern said in 2024 that he wouldn't mind seeing another effort made.

He added that a new push would need significantly more Republican support than in 1989, when Democrats controlled the Senate and the governor's office.

Opponents' Arguments

Opponents made their case in 1989 and 2001.

In 2001, some state officials worried the change would invite national mockery.

CNN reported in June 2001 that not everyone was jumping on Mathern's bandwagon.

One resident asked the reporter why a state founded as North Dakota should change.

Another resident said a new name wouldn't fool anybody into thinking the state had no snow.

According to the Herald in 2024, historian Tom Isern argues that settlers appropriated the name Dakota in the first place and that the state has never reconciled with that.