How Many People Are Named Douglas?
people named Douglas are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 881 people in the US has this name
Based on 562,086 babies named Douglas in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐ Uncommon
Peak Year
16,765 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Anglicized form of the Scottish surname Dubhghlas, meaning "dark river" from Gaelic dubh "dark" and glais "water, river". Douglas was originally a place name (for example, a tributary of the River Clyde), which then became a Scottish clan name (belonging to a powerful line of Scottish earls). It has been used as a given name since the 16th century.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Douglas in English. Counting Douglas and these spellings together, about 391,169 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Douglas (99.6%) were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Douglas alive today is about 59 years old, and 55% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 50 and 69 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Douglas first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1957, to 16,765 babies. In 2025, 308 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Douglas never made the top 10 boys' names. Its best rank was #23, in 1942, and it was in the top 100 for 61 years, 1929 to 1989. In 2025 it ranked #807.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #807 |
| Best rank | #23 (1942) |
| Years in the top 100 | 61 (1929 to 1989) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #28 in the 1950s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Douglas alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Douglas were born in California than in any other state: about 30,597 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Douglas was given 2 times as often in South Dakota, 1.7 times in Iowa and 1.7 times in Nebraska.
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