ninan.org

Douglas

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~400,300 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#807 among boys
Births in 2025
308 562,086 since 1880
Typical age
62 years, median

Douglas popularity over time

Douglas rank by birth year, 1880–2025Douglas ranked #314 in 1880 and #807 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #23, in 1942.#100#1,000#807best #23 in 194218901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1957 is the peak year for Douglas, with 16,765 births. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. It has held a top-100 place in 61 separate years.

The 2025 position is #807, on 308 births. The ten-year change is -30%. It climbed 41 places against the previous year.

Babies named Douglas per yearPeaks at 16,765 births in 1957.16,765 in 1957018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Douglas?

An estimated 400,300 living Americans are called Douglas. SSA has recorded 562,086 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Douglas?

Median age among living Douglass: 62. The 1960s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Douglas a mid-century perennial name.

Your Douglas

Ages of living people named DouglasHalf of living Douglass are older than 62 and half younger.median 62020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Douglas is most common

Maryland uses the name 1.8× as often as the country as a whole. Virginia, New Jersey and Washington follow.

Where Douglas is used more than average5 states use the name Douglas more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.5× the national rateWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 1.6× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: 1.8× the national rateVAMaryland: 1.8× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 1.5× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Douglas is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Maryland 88 1.8×
Virginia 134 1.8×
New Jersey 122 1.6×
Washington 101 1.5×
Massachusetts 81 1.5×

Douglas in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Douglas ranked #224 in 2025 on 222 births.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Douglas comes from

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

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Douglas

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Douglas Adams British science fiction writer and humorist 1952–2001 132
Douglas MacArthur United States Army general in WWI, WWII and Korea 1880–1964 113
Douglas Engelbart American engineer and inventor 1925–2013 74
Douglas Osheroff American physicist 1945 63
Douglas Fairbanks American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer 1883–1939 61
Douglas Costa Brazilian association football player 1990 58
Douglas Hyde first President of Ireland; historian, poet, and folklorist 1860–1949 53
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig British senior officer during the First World War 1861–1928 51
Photo credits (6)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 4,163 in 1941 to 11,271 in 1942 — 2.7 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/douglas.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).