Douglas

Douglas: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“dark stream”
Origin
Scottish Gaelic
Say it
DUG-ləs · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys

Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Dubhghlas, from dubh 'dark' and glas often interpreted here as 'stream'. It began as a surname and place name before use as a given name.

How popular is Douglas?

202485.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Douglas in 2024283

2024 rank#851 boys

Peak year1942

Total US babies since 1880561,781

Douglas is steady now but far below its 1942 peak.

Names like Douglas

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Dougdark stranger · Scottish Gaelic
  • Douglassdark stream · Scottish Gaelic
  • Loganlittle hollow · Scottish Gaelic
  • Cameroncrooked nose · Scottish Gaelic
  • IanGod is gracious · Scottish Gaelic
  • Carsonson of Carr · Scottish Gaelic
  • Callumdove · Scottish Gaelic
  • MaxwellMack's stream · Scottish Gaelic

Douglas questions

What does the name Douglas mean?

Douglas means "dark stream". It comes from Scottish Gaelic. Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Dubhghlas, from dubh 'dark' and glas often interpreted here as 'stream'. It began as a surname and place name before use as a given name.

Is Douglas a boy or girl name?

Douglas is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Douglas?

283 US babies were named Douglas in 2024. Its peak year was 1942.

How do you pronounce Douglas?

Douglas is usually pronounced DUG-ləs.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.