Dougal
/ˈduːɡl̩/
"dougal" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Dougal” is uncommon English (frequency #57,348 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,348
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dougal · Dougal · English
Dougal · rank #57,348 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,348
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH dovetail
Nearest frequency peer: dovetail (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “Dougal”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- disillusion
disillusion
42,657 corpus weight
- distinctive…
distinctiveness
42,656 corpus weight
- doldrums
doldrums
42,655 corpus weight
- Dougal
Dougal
42,653 corpus weight
- dovetail
dovetail
42,652 corpus weight
- dramatizati…
dramatization
42,651 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “Dougal” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Dougal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈduːɡl̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #57,348 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Dougal” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Dougal is uncommon English at frequency #57,348 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈduːɡl̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for Dougal in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Dùghall, from Old Irish dubgall (“Dane, black-haired foreigner”), synchronically from dubh (“black”) + gall (“stranger”). The correct English form is Dougal, spelled D-O-U-G-A-L.
Definition
- 1A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.
- 2A surname from Scottish Gaelic [in turn originating as a patronymic].
Etymology
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Dùghall, from Old Irish dubgall (“Dane, black-haired foreigner”), synchronically from dubh (“black”) + gall (“stranger”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Dougal", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).