Douglas
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name transferred from the surname. From a place name, Scottish Gaelic dubh (“black”) + glais (“stream”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Douglas (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Douglas has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2010. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 67 |
| 1999 | 47 |
| 2000 | 89 |
| 2001 | 80 |
| 2002 | 73 |
| 2003 | 62 |
| 2004 | 69 |
| 2005 | 79 |
| 2006 | 74 |
| 2007 | 70 |
| 2008 | 68 |
| 2009 | 75 |
| 2010 | 109 |
| 2011 | 95 |
| 2012 | 81 |
| 2013 | 92 |
| 2014 | 86 |
| 2015 | 70 |
| 2016 | 72 |
| 2017 | 56 |
| 2018 | 72 |
| 2019 | 39 |
| 2020 | 40 |
| 2021 | 30 |
| 2022 | 35 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,314 |
| 2000 | 1,408 |
| 2001 | 1,480 |
| 2002 | 1,550 |
| 2003 | 1,618 |
| 2004 | 1,695 |
| 2005 | 1,769 |
| 2006 | 1,845 |
| 2007 | 1,911 |
| 2008 | 1,984 |
| 2009 | 2,055 |
| 2010 | 2,159 |
| 2011 | 2,242 |
| 2012 | 2,316 |
| 2013 | 2,410 |
| 2014 | 2,504 |
| 2015 | 2,579 |
| 2016 | 2,646 |
| 2017 | 2,694 |
| 2018 | 2,768 |
| 2019 | 2,802 |
| 2020 | 2,837 |
Douglas in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Douglas.Hi! My name is Douglas.
- Har du träffat Douglas? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Douglas? He started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Douglas kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Douglas is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Douglas mamma är lärare.Douglas's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Douglas mamma is Douglas's mum. Because Douglas already ends in s, nothing is added.
More names
Questions about Douglas
How do you pronounce Douglas in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Douglas in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Douglas mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name transferred from the surname. From a place name, Scottish Gaelic dubh (“black”) + glais (“stream”).
How popular is Douglas in Sweden?
35 babies were named Douglas in 2022. In 2020, 2,837 people in Sweden had Douglas as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2010 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.