# Dougal (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/dougal/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Scottish Gaelic [in turn originating as a patronymic].

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 624 |
| US rank (2010) | 35,945 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 494,785 people |
| Change since 2000 | +10% (566 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈduːɡl̩/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Dùghall, from Old Irish dubgall (“Dane, black-haired foreigner”), synchronically from dubh (“black”) + gall (“stranger”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Dougal in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 82% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 11% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Similar surnames

Dugal, Daigle, Disla, Declue, Dashiell, Dekle, DeCola.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.