Douglas (given name)
Douglas is a Scottish masculine given name which originated from the surname Douglas. Although today the name is almost exclusively given to boys, it was used as a girl's name in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in the north of England.[1] The Scottish surname Douglas was borne by one of the most powerful families of the Kingdom of Scotland (the Earls of Douglas, Angus, Morton, Dukes of Hamilton and others). It has sometimes been stated that the given name is connected with the given name Dougal, although it is more likely derived from the surname already mentioned.[2]
Pronunciation | /ˈdʌɡləs/ DUG-ləs |
---|---|
Gender | Male |
Origin | |
Word/name | Scottish Gaelic |
Meaning | Dark stream |
Region of origin | South Lanarkshire, Scotland |
Other names | |
Related names | Doug; Dougalasa; Dougie; Douglas (surname); Duggie, Dúghlas; Dubhghlas; Duggie; Dùbhghlas; Koukakala |
Linguistically, Douglas is derived from the Gaelic elements: dubh, meaning "dark, black"; and glas, meaning "stream" (also a derivative of glas, meaning "green").[3] The surname Douglas is a habitational name, which could be derived from any of the many places so-named. While there are numerous places with this name in both Ireland and Scotland, it is thought, in most cases, to refer to Douglas, South Lanarkshire, which was once the stronghold of Clan Douglas.[4]
The Scottish Gaelic form of the given name is Dùghlas [ˈt̪uːl̪ˠəs̪];[5] the Irish language form it is Dúghlas,[6] and Dubhghlas, which are pronounced [ˈd̪ˠuːɣlˠəsˠ].[7] The Hawaiian language form of the given name is Koukalaka, which is pronounced [koukəˈlɐkə]; a variant form of this name is Dougalasa.[8][9] The given name Doug is a common short form variant of Douglas. Pet forms of the given name include: Dougie[2] and Duggie. In Scotland, while spelled Dougie like the above, there is a distinct Scottish pronunciation of "Doogie".[10]
Notable people named Douglas
- Douglas Abbott, Canadian politician
- Douglas Adams, author
- Douglas Alexander, Scottish politician
- Doug Allen, multiple people
- Douglas A. Anderson, American author
- Douglas Applegate, American politician
- Douglas Bader, British flying ace
- Douglas Barr, American actor
- Doug Belden, American football player
- Douglas Booth, British actor
- Douglas Brinkley, American author
- Douglas Burke (disambiguation), several people
- Douglas Carswell, British politician, first elected MP for the UK Independence Party
- Douglas Costa, Brazilian footballer
- Douglas Maicon, Brazilian footballer
- Douglas (footballer, born 1990), Brazilian footballer
- Douglas Coupland, Canadian novelist
- Douglas Devananda (born 1957), Sri Lankan Tamil Cabinet minister, originally a militant of the separatist Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
- Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton, 18th-century Scottish peer
- Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, pioneering aviator
- Doug Emhoff (born 1964) is American lawyer and the husband of U.S. Senator and Vice President Kamala Harris
- Douglas Engelbart, American inventor and computer pioneer
- Douglas Eggers, American football player
- Douglas Fairbanks, American actor
- Doug Ford, 26th premier of Ontario
- Douglas Franco Teixeira (born 1988), Brazilian footballer who plays as a centre-back, often known simply as "Douglas"
- Douglas Frenkel, American professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Douglas H. Ginsburg, American judge
- Doug Grimston, Canadian ice hockey administrator
- Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, British Field marshal
- Douglas Hamilton, British General, surveyor and big-game hunter
- Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist
- Douglas A. Hicks, American author
- Douglas Hodge (born 1960), English actor, director and musician
- Douglas Hodge (businessman) (born 1957), American businessman
- Douglas Hofstadter, American author and professor of cognitive science
- Douglas Hyde, Irish academic and politician, first president of Ireland
- Douglas Hyde (author), English political journalist and author
- Douglas Johnson, multiple people
- Doug Jones, multiple people
- Douglas Harriman Kennedy (born 1967), American journalist
- Douglas Júnior, Kazakhstani futsal player
- Douglas Lawrence, Australian organist
- Doug Lawrence, American animator and voice actor
- Douglas Liyanage, Sri Lankan Sinhala civil servant
- Douglas Lowe, British athlete
- Douglas Lubahn (1947–2019), American bassist
- Douglas MacArthur, American general
- Doug McFarland, American politician
- Douglas Albert Munro, American armed forces member
- Doug Nordquist, American high jumper
- Doug Pederson, American football coach
- Douglas Peterson, multiple people
- Douglas Polk, American professional poker player
- Douglas Robb, multiple people
- Douglas Rodrigues, multiple people
- Douglas A. Ross, American political scientist
- Douglas Santos, multiple people
- Douglas Silva Bacelar (born 1990), Brazilian footballer
- Douglas Simpson, Scottish field hockey forward
- Doug Stanhope, American stand-up comedian and author
- Douglas Trevor, American author and academic
- Douglas H. Wheelock, American astronaut
References
- Hanks, Patrick A Dictionary of First Names, p. 160, at Google Books
- "Learn about the family history of your surname". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 April 2010. which cited A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280050-7. for the given name "Douglas".
- "Douglas Name Meaning". Ancestry.com.
- "Learn about the family history of your surname". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 6 April 2010. which cited Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508137-4. for the surname "Douglas".
- Mac an Tàilleir, Iain. "Ainmean Pearsanta" (docx). Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.
- Coghlan, Ronan (1979), Irish Christian names: an A-Z of first names, Johnston and Bacon, p. 42
- Norman, Teresa (2003), A World of Baby Names (Revised ed.), Perigee, p. 287, ISBN 978-0-399-52894-1
- Norman, Teresa (2003), A World of Baby Names (Revised ed.), Perigee, p. 227, ISBN 978-0-399-52894-1
- Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel Hoyt (1992), New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary: With a Concise Grammar and Given Names in Hawaiian, University of Hawaii Press, p. 246
- Norman, Teresa (2003), A World of Baby Names (Revised ed.), Perigee, p. 101, ISBN 978-0-399-52894-1