Sioux, a Siouan language, is spoken by over 33,000 Sioux people in the United States and Canada. Sioux is the fifth most spoken indigenous language in North America, after Navajo, Cree, Inuit and Ojibwe. The Sioux language branches off into 3 branches: Lakota, Western Dakota and Eastern Dakota. Around 1836, missionaries set to translating hymns and Bible stories into Sioux to further their efforts to convert the Sioux Indians to Christianity. Prior to the missionaries introducing a writing system using the Latin alphabet, the Sioux used a pictographic system to record information. Baby Name World contains many Sioux and other Native American baby names and name meanings for visitors interested in authentic indigenous names.