Douglas

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Douglas is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name130K records spelled Douglas3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Ecuador, Canada

  Also written Dóuglas, Dôuglas

• English surname36K records spelled Douglas50 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Australia

  Languages: English, Polish, Russian

  Also written Douglass, Дуглас, Даглас, Daglas, Duglas

• Hindi given name29K records spelled Douglas11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala

  Also written Doglas, Dauglas, ডৌগ্লাস, ডগলাস, Douǵlas

• Greek given name15K records spelled Douglas3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Νταγκλας, Ντάγκλας

89 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Douglas is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from the Scottish place-name Douglas, originally 'dark stream'

  as a name·Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]

• In English, From the Lanarkshire place-name Douglas, from Gaelic dubh + glais, ‘black stream’; first of the family on record c. 12th century.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, A place name from Gaelic dubh ‘dark’ + glas ‘water/stream’; first record William de Duglas in charters c. 1199–early 13th c.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, from Douglas, Lanarkshire, ‘the black water’ (Gael dubh, glas); first attested William de Duglas 1175–99 Black (Kelso)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In French, Scottish Gaelic surname-name, from dubh ‘dark’ + glas ‘stream’/‘water’

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Douglas MacArthurb. 1880USUnited States Army general in WWI, WWII and Korea (1880–1964)
• Edgar Douglas Adrianb. 1889GBEnglish electrophysiologist (1889-1977)
• John Douglas Cockcroftb. 1897GBBritish physicist (1897–1967)
• Ray Bradburyb. 1920USnot in their usual nameAmerican author and screenwriter (1920–2012)
• Jim Morrisonb. 1943USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer and poet; lead vocalist of The Doors (1943–1971)
• Rick Husbandb. 1957USnot in their usual nameAmerican astronaut (1957-2003)
• Douglas McGrathb. 1958USAmerican actor and director
• Dwayne Johnsonb. 1972USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor and professional wrestler (born 1972)
• Adam Driverb. 1983USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (born 1983)
• Pattinsonb. 1986GBnot in their usual nameBritish actor (born 1986)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,334 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Douglas?

We estimate roughly 658 thousand people bear Douglas (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Douglas have the most bearers?

We estimate about 383 thousand people bear Douglas in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled douglas.

How common is Douglas compared with other names?

In the United States, Douglas is the 98th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Douglas a male or female name?

Douglas is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Douglas mean?

Recorded meaning: ‘Person from Douglas’, a Scottish locality and clan home; literally ‘dark stream’.