Douglas

This name derives from the Scottish (Gaelic) “dubh ghlas,” composed of two elements: “dubh” (dark, black) and “ghlas” (stream, river). The name means “black stream, one who comes from the dark river.” It is a male given name transferred from the surname. Douglas is a Scottish masculine given name that originated from the surname Douglas. Although today the name is almost exclusively given to boys, it was used as a girl’s name in the 17th and 18th-centuries, in the north of England. The Douglases are an Ancient Scottish kindred from the Scottish Lowlands taking their name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire; their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian, Moray in France, and Sweden. The Douglases were one of Scotland’s most powerful families, and indeed the most prominent family in lowland Scotland during the Late Middle Ages, often holding the real power behind the Stewart Kings’ throne.