DULCIE f EnglishFrom Latin
dulcis meaning "sweet". It was used in the Middle Ages in the spellings
Dowse and
Duce, and was recoined in the 19th century.
DULCINEA f LiteratureDerived from Spanish
dulce meaning "sweet". This name was (first?) used by Miguel de Cervantes in his novel 'Don Quixote' (1605), where it belongs to the love interest of the main character, though she never actually appears in the story.
DUMUZI m Sumerian MythologyFrom Sumerian
𒌉 (dumu) meaning "son, child" and
𒍣 (zid) meaning "true, loyal". This was the name of a Sumerian god of shepherds and vegetation, the husband of
Inanna. He was said to spend half of each year in the underworld, resulting in the yearly cycle of seasons. He was known to the Semitic peoples of Mesopotamia as
Tammuz.
DUNCAN m Scottish, EnglishAnglicized form of the Gaelic name
Donnchadh, derived from Gaelic
donn "brown" and
cath "battle". This was the name of two kings of Scotland, including the one who was featured in Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth' (1606).
DUNJA f Serbian, Croatian, SloveneMeans "quince" in the South Slavic languages, a quince being a type of fruit. It can also be a Serbian, Croatian and Slovene form of
DUNYA.
DUNSTAN m English (Rare), Anglo-SaxonFrom the Old English elements
dunn "dark" and
stan "stone". This name was borne by a 10th-century saint, the archbishop of Canterbury. It was occasionally used in the Middle Ages, though it died out after the 16th century. It was revived by the Tractarian movement in the 19th century.
DURANTE m ItalianItalian form of the Late Latin name
Durans, which meant "enduring".
DURI f & m KoreanMeans "two" in Korean (Gyeongsang dialect).
DURWARD m EnglishFrom an occupational surname meaning "door guard" in Middle English.
DUSHYANTA m HinduismPossibly means "destroyer of evil" in Sanskrit. In Hindu legend this is the name of a king who is the husband of
Shakuntala and the father of
Bharata.
DUSTIN m EnglishFrom an English surname that was derived from the Old Norse given name
Þórsteinn (see
TORSTEN). The name was popularized by the actor Dustin Hoffman (1937-), who was apparently named after the earlier silent movie star Dustin Farnum (1874-1929).
DUSTY m & f EnglishFrom a nickname originally given to people perceived as being dusty. It is also used a diminutive of
DUSTIN. A famous bearer was British singer Dusty Springfield (1939-1999), who acquired her nickname as a child.
DUTCH m EnglishFrom a nickname given to Americans of German descent. It is related to
deutsch, the German word for "German".
DWI m & f IndonesianMeans "two, second" in Indonesian, ultimately from Sanskrit
द्वि (dvi).
DWIGHT m EnglishFrom an English surname that was derived from the medieval feminine name
Diot, a diminutive of
Dionysia, the feminine form of
DIONYSIUS. In America it was sometimes given in honour of Yale president Timothy Dwight (1752-1817). A famous bearer was the American president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969).
DYMPHNA f IrishAnglicized form of
DAMHNAIT. This was the name of a 7th-century Irish saint who was martyred by her father. She is the patron saint of the mentally ill.
DZHOKHAR m ChechenPossibly from Persian
گوهر (gohar) "jewel, essence" or
جوهر (johar) "essence, ink" (which comes from the same root, but via a loan to Arabic and retransmission to Persian).