Duncan

"Dark warrior" — a name from the Scottish Highlands with royal lineage and literary grandeur

Duncan is the anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic Donnchadha, a compound of donn meaning dark or brown and cath meaning warrior or battle. It was a name of medieval Scottish kings, most famously King Duncan I of Scotland, whose murder by Macbeth in 1040 gave Shakespeare the material for his great tragedy. Duncan has long been a staple of Scottish naming tradition and has been used across the English-speaking world. The name conveys a combination of Celtic ruggedness and literary sophistication, fitting equally well in a Highland glen or a university library.