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Douglas
What do you think of it? Sometimes I think it has potential, sometimes not. So I was wondering what everyone thought about it. What sort of image do you get from it?
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Honestly, I don't like it at all. It sounds kind of glum and old to me.
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Douglas has always struck me as a wimpy sort of name. For that reason, I only like it as a middle name paired with something with more strength.
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I don't like Douglas. It's goofy and nerdy and not attractive. The nickname Doug really bothers me.
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Douglas is a family name for me, so it has positive associations in my world.
However, it always gets shortened to Doug or Dougie, and that makes it less appealing.
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Not one of my favorites. Kind of nerdy.
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I have the same reaction as you. My feelings about it depend on my mood, unlike names which I have a consistent reaction to. Overall, I do think this name is more serious than not, less easygoing but not too stuffy. Not a bad name to have.
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The problem with Douglas is that he will invariably get called Doug. The only Douglas who is Douglas and not Doug I know is a fabulous gay guy who has been pounding Douglas into everyones' heads for decades. People who don't know him still call him Doug.Doug just sounds like Dug to me. I just Doug a hole. Gack.
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Doug has a comfortableness to me. It very much stays consistent with the feel of Douglas itself. I can see how it sounding like dug would be offputting though.Also, Doug:

:)
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:-DYep, I love it, too. But then we grew up with Doug.
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I think of it as belonging to people in my own generation. Which isn't a bad thing, IMO. But yeah, dad name, I guess.I never liked it on my peers. The Dug sound is clunky to me. Makes me think of hyper guys like the Douglas I knew in elementary school, and of Michael Douglas. Still, I don't disapprove of it as a baby name now. It's a decent name, and maturity doesn't hurt it. I don't like nn Doug, though.I'd probably be more inclined to like Dougal instead of Douglas.
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I used to be more inclined to like Dougal, too. Dougal has something dark and sneaky about it, probably because of a character association, which is a neat and interesting quality. Douglas seems more like a nice guy and a reliable friend. So I guess it depends on my mood on which I'd prefer. Although I'm feeling it's time for a change in what feel of boy's names I've been thinking about. I've been stuck on warm and fuzzy for too long.
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Like it but I don't love it.
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Ok I have two images of Douglas. One is of Doug, my best friend's totally weird, gross dad. Her parents had her when they were "old" so by the time we were twelve they were suuuper old (he was probably fifty-five or something) and it was always weird. He was always so innapropriate and gross-old-man-ish; smelly and scruffy and ogling her friends and snapping their bra straps. EW GROSS.The other is of a dashing, old-timey gent from Scotland in the Masons. I worked in the local Mason archives one summer and had to accession like a million old application forms from the Edwardian era, and there were so many Douglases. I wrote the name out a billion times and by the end of the summer I was in love with how Douglas looked in my own handwriting. And hated how Alexander looked.so I feel you on the sometimes good, sometimes bad thing. I think it's still a little bit dated in a way, it's a "dad name", like Linda and Brenda are "mom names". Overall, I prefer the similar Duncan, which seems less creepy old man and more friendly towards revival. And it looks pretty good in my handwriting too.
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Okay, I definitely dig the latter image you describe, and that's exactly the reason Douglas is so tempting to me. Oh man, that first dude... ew gross is right! The only thing stopping me from liking Douglas is just having it feel boring and monotonous, like it could be anyone's dad's name (haha, I typed that before I read your last paragraph). I can't get into Duncan yet, unfortunately. It only makes me think of Dunkin' Donuts.ETA: I also have a good association with Douglas. It makes me think of my high school Spanish teacher (it was his first name), who was one of my favorite teachers I ever had.

This message was edited 6/28/2011, 9:25 AM

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