Dakota Blue Richards - Early Life

Early Life

Richards was born in South Kensington, London, the daughter of Michaela Richards, a social worker. She is of German descent through her grandmother Ellinor. She was named Dakota Blue because her mother wanted a combination of a place-name and a colour. Dakota was inspired by the Sioux tribe, members of whom her mother had become friends with during a year in the U.S. (her mother also liked the fact that it was unusual as a name) and Blue was Dakota's father's nickname, and her mother thought it went well with Dakota.

The family moved to Brighton shortly after Dakota was born. At school she took very few drama classes and she was not an active participant in class assemblies or school plays. She missed out on the part of Mary in the nativity play. When she was 11, she moved onto the nearby K-BIS Theatre School. She had always enjoyed acting, but considered it "just a fun little hobby thing" and "never really thought 'd get into doing it professionally". She attended Newlands School in Seaford from year 8 up to year 11 and Brighton College until 2012, where she completed her A-levels in Psychology, Philosophy and Politics.