# Douglas (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/douglas/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “black”, “stream” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdʌɡləs/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Doug, Dougo, Doogie, Doog, Dougie |
| Variant spellings | Douglass |
| US babies named this | 562,086 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 560,013 / 2,073 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,995, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From a place name, Scottish Gaelic dubh (“black”) + glais (“stream”).

## What it means

Douglas is grouped under black and water.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 27 | 3,197 |
| 1983 | 31 | 2,803 |
| 1984 | 34 | 2,691 |
| 1985 | 35 | 2,718 |
| 1986 | 16 | 4,788 |
| 1987 | 24 | 3,649 |
| 1988 | 31 | 3,177 |
| 1989 | 17 | 5,107 |
| 1990 | 13 | 6,574 |
| 1991 | 10 | 8,141 |
| 1992 | 5 | 13,909 |
| 1993 | 12 | 7,153 |
| 1994 | 5 | 14,072 |
| 1996 | 5 | 14,135 |
| 2004 | 6 | 14,663 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 505 | 514 |
| 2012 | 452 | 571 |
| 2013 | 492 | 541 |
| 2014 | 458 | 598 |
| 2015 | 437 | 615 |
| 2016 | 447 | 603 |
| 2017 | 413 | 629 |
| 2018 | 373 | 673 |
| 2019 | 374 | 685 |
| 2020 | 334 | 737 |
| 2021 | 347 | 737 |
| 2022 | 300 | 827 |
| 2023 | 354 | 744 |
| 2024 | 286 | 848 |
| 2025 | 308 | 807 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 103 | 384 |
| 2012 | 144 | 314 |
| 2013 | 122 | 338 |
| 2014 | 171 | 276 |
| 2015 | 152 | 305 |
| 2016 | 175 | 289 |
| 2017 | 173 | 290 |
| 2018 | 179 | 279 |
| 2019 | 188 | 261 |
| 2020 | 188 | 253 |
| 2021 | 223 | 227 |
| 2022 | 184 | 253 |
| 2023 | 174 | 263 |
| 2024 | 182 | 257 |
| 2025 | 222 | 224 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Дъ́глас
- Chinese: 道格拉斯
- Hindi: डगलस
- Irish: Dúghlas
- Portuguese: Douglas
- Scottish Gaelic: Dùghlas

## People named Douglas

- Douglas Engelbart, American engineer and inventor (1925–2013)
- Douglas Osheroff, American physicist
- Edgar Douglas Adrian, English electrophysiologist (1889-1977)
- Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer (1883–1939)
- Douglas Costa, Brazilian association football player
- Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland; historian, poet, and folklorist (1860-1949)
- Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, British senior officer during the First World War (1861-1928)
- Douglas Diamond, American economist and professor of finance
- Douglas Mawson, Australian geologist and explorer of the Antarctic (1882-1958)
- Douglas Luiz, Brazilian association football player
- Douglas Fairbanks Jr., American actor and United States naval officer (1909–2000)
- Douglas Coupland, Canadian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and graphic designer (born 1961)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.