Dougal

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine first name of Gaelic origin, traditionally used in Scotland and Ireland
2. A male given name of Scottish and Irish Gaelic origin, meaning dark stranger
3. A traditional Scottish and Irish masculine forename derived from Gaelic roots

Etymology: Dougal is a Scottish and Irish personal name, and its story begins with a word for strangers. It is an anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic "Dùghall", which comes from Old Irish "dubgall", meaning "Dane" or, more loosely, "black-haired foreigner". The term is built from "dubh", "black", and "gall", "stranger". The "gall" element is the key to the meaning. Gaelic speakers used it for outsiders in general, and "dubgall" was applied to the Norse invaders who raided and settled Ireland and Scotland. The dark hair that gave the name its colour was presumably a visible trait that set these newcomers apart from the local population. Over centuries, the name lost its foreign connotation and became an ordinary given name. Its earlier sense of "the dark stranger" survives only in its etymology.