How common is the name Douglas?

383,164 people in the United States have the first name Douglas, about 1 in 788. It ranks #122 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

DOUGLAS

#122

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
383,164
About
1 in 788
This common or more
33.3%
Who bears it

Of the 383,164 people named Douglas, 88.2% reported their origin as White, 4.7% as Black and 3.5% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Douglas peaked in 1957, when 16,765 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1957
Births that year
16,765
In 2025*
308 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 562,086 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Douglas by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1950s, when it ranked #52. The largest share of babies named Douglas, 47.1%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#638334
1890s#589585
1900s#528960
1910s#3427,022
1920s#25217,486
1930s#17026,183
1940s#6881,000
1950s#52148,503
1960s#59135,413
1970s#9365,471
1980s#14442,024
1990s#30222,022
2000s#7128,667
2010s#1,2314,487
2020s#1,6101,929
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–273.8%
Silent Generation 1928–4512.8%
Baby boom 1946–6447.1%
Generation X 1965–8023%
Millennials 1981–969.7%
Generation Z 1997–122.6%
2013 and later0.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Douglas is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Douglas has been most common in South Dakota (2.2×), Vermont (1.9×), and Montana (1.9×), and least common in Arizona (0.52×).

556,547 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Douglas

#120 Sara · 384,257#121 Carolyn · 384,056#123 Betty · 382,966#124 Sean · 377,127

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Douglas, most common first.

#4,695 Douglass · 3,876#32,705 Dougles · 256#53,614 Doglas · 91

Also a last name

As a last name, Douglas ranks #324 of 156,621, with 97,078 people. See Douglas as a last name

Compare