| Douglas | Ian | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Dark water, dark stream | God is gracious |
| Origin | scottish | scottish |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | DUG-las | EE-uhn |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 1912 |
| Peak year | 1957 (16,730) | 2005 (6,688) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 3,924 |
| Trend | Vintage | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Douglas | Ian |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,929 | 26,113 |
| 2010s | 4,487 | 52,475 |
| 2000s | 8,661 | 61,925 |
| 1990s | 21,972 | 54,007 |
| 1980s | 41,746 | 37,770 |
| 1970s | 65,155 | 17,186 |
| 1960s | 134,989 | 4,977 |
| 1950s | 148,205 | 1,670 |
| 1940s | 80,760 | 779 |
| 1930s | 26,031 | 445 |
| 1920s | 17,301 | 225 |
| 1910s | 6,908 | 92 |
| 1900s | 950 | 0 |
| 1890s | 585 | 0 |
| 1880s | 334 | 0 |
From Scottish Gaelic 'dubh glais' meaning 'dark stream' or 'dark water' (dubh 'dark' + glais 'stream, water'), originally a river name and clan surname.
The Scottish Gaelic form of John (Iain), ultimately from Hebrew 'Yochanan' meaning 'Yahweh is gracious.' One of several John-root names carrying the 'God is gracious' sense.
Ian is more popular than Douglas today: about 3,924 US babies were given the name Ian in 2025, compared with 0 named Douglas.
Douglas means Dark water, dark stream (scottish origin), while Ian means God is gracious (scottish origin).
In US records, Douglas first appears in 0 and Ian in 1912, so Douglas has the longer recorded history.