Boy · #10,812 in 2026

Doug

Doug is a male personal name. It is sometimes a given name, but more often it is a hypocorism which takes the place of a given name, usually Douglas. Notable people with the name include:

  • English
Current Rank
#10,812
Peak Rank
#170 (1962)
Total Babies
22K
5-Yr Trend
Stable
1968
First Year
1968
Last Year
1968
Peak Year
#7015
Peak Rank
5
Total Count
1
Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Doug

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Doug is a male personal name. It is sometimes a given name, but more often it is a hypocorism which takes the place of a given name, usually Douglas. Notable people with the name include:

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)

  • English

The Story of Doug

Doug first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1918, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1962: 1,843 births, good for #170 nationwide. About 53% of every Doug on record arrived during the 1960s, its defining decade. Doug last appeared in the published SSA data in 2023, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 22K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

ME
WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
VT
NH
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
DC
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
AK
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
Top 10
11-50
51-100
101-500
500+
No data

Variants & Related Forms of Doug

Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Doug. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Names that sound like Doug

Phonetically similar names — useful when Doug is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

  • Dug
  • Dugg
  • Dig
  • Digg
  • Deg
  • Dyg
  • Digue
  • Dog
  • Duck
  • Dawg
  • Dag
  • Dogg

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Doug

What does the name Doug mean?
Doug is a male personal name. It is sometimes a given name, but more often it is a hypocorism which takes the place of a given name, usually Douglas. Notable people with the name include:
What is the origin of the name Doug?
Doug has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: English.
How popular is Doug in 2026?
In 2026, Doug ranks #10,812 among boys' names in the U.S., with 6 babies given the name that year.
When was Doug most popular?
Doug reached its peak popularity in 1962, ranking #170 that year with 1,843 babies given the name.
In which U.S. states is Doug most popular?
Doug has historically been most popular in South Dakota, Idaho, Utah. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Doug.
Is Doug a unisex name?
In U.S. Social Security records, Doug is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name.
What names go well with Doug?
Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Doug include Merle, Rex, Sammy. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.
What are nicknames or variants of Doug?
Common variants and related forms of Doug include Dougie, Douglas. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms.

About the name Doug

Doug is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1918 and has accumulated 22K births in the dataset. Doug's peak popularity came in 1962 when it ranked #170. Use the chart and map above to compare Doug's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

  • Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
  • Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
  • Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
  • Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
  • Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.