How common is the surname Douglas?

101,458 people in the United States had the surname Douglas in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,043 Americans. It ranked 311th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Douglas?

Kirk Douglas, American actor (1916–2020), followed by Michael Douglas.

Where is the surname Douglas most common?

Wikidata records people named Douglas in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 3 other countries.

How do you pronounce Douglas?

Douglas is /ˈdʌɡləs/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Douglas getting more or less common?

More common. 96,425 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 101,458 in 2010, up 5.2%.

Is Douglas also a first name?

Yes. Douglas is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Douglas

A Scottish Gaelic place surname, carried by 101,458 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈdʌɡləs/ 2 syllables Soundex D242 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Douglas is more common than 99.8% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

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

Douglas is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 101,458 people named Douglas in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 3,043 Americans. That is up 5.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 96,425.

#311

rank among US surnames

101,458

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+5.2%

change since 2000 (was #286)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#302	Acosta	103,418	2,985
#303	Brewer	103,318	2,988
#304	May	103,306	2,989
#305	Holland	102,538	3,011
#306	Juarez	101,949	3,028
#307	Newman	101,931	3,029
#308	Pearson	101,836	3,032

Who is named Douglas

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

59% of people named Douglas identified as white (not Hispanic), 35% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 59%
Black (not Hispanic) 35%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
Two or more races 2.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Douglass

73 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Kirk Douglas
American actor (1916–2020)
Michael Douglas
American actor, producer and activist (born 1944)
Melvyn Douglas
American actor (1901-1981)
Mary Douglas
British anthropologist (1921–2007)
Jesse Douglas
American mathematician (1897–1965)
Stephen A. Douglas
American politician and lawyer (1813–1861)
Donna Douglas
American actress (1933-2015)
Gabby Douglas
American gymnast, born 1995
Illeana Douglas
American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer, born 1965
Helen Gahagan Douglas
American actress and politician (1900–1980)
Buster Douglas
American boxer, born 1960
Gordon Douglas
American film director (1907-1993)

Notable Douglass come mostly from the United States (54), the United Kingdom (11) and Australia (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Douglass

Surnames that sound like Douglas

Douglass

Douglas has the Soundex code D242, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D242.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Douglas come from?: From a place name, Scottish Gaelic dubh (“black”) + glais (“stream”).
How common is the surname Douglas?: 101,458 people in the United States had the surname Douglas in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,043 Americans. It ranked 311th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Douglas?: In the 2010 Census, 59% of people named Douglas identified as white (not Hispanic), and 35% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Douglas?: Kirk Douglas, American actor (1916–2020), followed by Michael Douglas.
Where is the surname Douglas most common?: Wikidata records people named Douglas in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Douglas?: Douglas is /ˈdʌɡləs/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Douglas?: Douglas is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Douglas getting more or less common?: More common. 96,425 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 101,458 in 2010, up 5.2%.
What are other spellings of Douglas?: Douglass.
Is Douglas also a first name?: Yes. Douglas is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.