[ 2 syll. dou-glas, do-ugl-as ] The baby boy name Douglas is pronounced DAHG-LahS (English) †. Douglas is of Scottish origin. It is used mainly in English and Scottish. The name Douglas means 'dark river'. It is from dubh which means 'dark, black' ; glais 'water, river'. The first name is from the prominent Scottish surname Dùbhghlas, which is derived from a river name in the southern uplands of Scotland where the clan resided. The clan, whose legend dated from the 8th century, acquired the earldoms of Douglas, Angus and Morton, and many of their members, both male and female, have been named Douglas since the 16th century. The name became an exclusively masculine name from the 17th century, and it was later taken up by English speakers in the 19th century. The name is known from the Douglas fir, a coniferous tree named after the botanist David Douglas (1798-1834) who brought its seeds from the US to Scotland.
Douglas has 23 variants that are used in English and foreign languages. English variants of Douglas include Doogie, Doolish, Dougea, Dougee, Dougey, Doughlas, Dougi, Dougles, Dougy, Dugaid, Dugald, Dughlas, Dughlass, Duglas, Duglass, and Dugy. Other English forms include the contracted form Doug (also used in Scottish), and the spelling variant Douglass. Dùbhghlas (Scottish) is a variant of the name that is used in foreign languages. The contracted form Dug (Scottish), and the diminutives Dougie (Scottish), Duggie (Scottish), and Duggy (Scottish) are other foreign variants.
Douglas is an all-time favorite. At present it is still rather popular as a baby boy name, but not to the degree it was before. At the peak of its usage in 1942, 0.797% of baby boys were named Douglas. It had a ranking of #23 then. The baby name has suffered a marked decline in popularity since then, and is of only modest use today. In 2012, it ranked at #572 with a usage of 0.022%, but it was nevertheless the most popular out of all boy names in its family.
† Pronunciation for Douglas: D as in "day (D.EY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; G as in "grin (G.R.IH.N)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; S as in "see (S.IY)"
Details of famous persons named Douglas:
Actor Douglas (Jr) Fairbanks, born Douglas Elton Fairbanks December 9, 1909 - May 7, 2000, New York City, New York.
Actor Douglas (Sr) Fairbanks, born Douglas Elton Ullman May 23, 1883 - December 12, 1939, Denver, Colorado.
Author Douglas Adams, born 11 March 1952 - 11 May 2001, Cambridge, England.
Aviator Douglas Corrigan, born 22 January 1907 - 9 December 1995, Galveston, Texas.
Aviator Douglas Bader, born Douglas Robert Steuart Bader 21 February 1910 - 5 September 1982, St John's Wood, London, England.
Geologist Douglas Mawson, born 5 May 1882 - 14 October 1958, Shipley, Yorkshire, England.
Humorist Douglas Kenney, born 10 December 1947 - 27 August 1980, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Military Leader Douglas MacArthur, born 26 January 1880 - 5 April 1964, Little Rock Barracks, Arkansas.