Doug is a boy name with a classic feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Doug means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Doug across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Doug has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Doug is a boy name of Scottish (Gaelic) origin meaning “dark water, dark stream”. A short form of Douglas.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 22,473 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 20 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Doug per year, United States (1918 to 2023). United States peaked in 1962 (1,843/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 2016 (6/yr).
Doug has been a fairly common baby name in the United States. It was most common in 1962, when it ranked #370 nationally (given to 1,843 babies that year).
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