Duncan (given name)
Duncan is an Anglicised form of Irish Donnchadh. One of the first people to bear the name was king of Dál Riata Dúnchad mac Dubáin, who was possibly the grandfather of Fiannamail ua Dúnchado-Fiannamail O'Dúnchado. The final letter n in the Anglicised Duncan seems to be a result of confusion in the Latin form of the name—Duncanus—with the Gaelic word ceann, meaning "head". One opinion is that the Gaelic Donnchadh is composed of the elements donn, meaning "dark or dark-haired man" or "chieftain"; and cath, meaning "battle", together meaning "dark-haired or dark warrior". Another opinion is that the Gaelic Donnchadh is composed of the elements donn, meaning "brown"; and chadh, meaning "chief" or "noble".
Royalty
- Duncan I of Scotland, king of Alba, the inspiration for King Duncan in Shakespeare's play Macbeth
- Duncan II of Scotland king of Scots
Sports
- Duncan Atwood, American javelin thrower
- Duncan Clark (athlete), Scottish hammer thrower
- Duncan Edwards, English footballer
- Duncan Ferguson, Scottish footballer
- Duncan Goodhew, Olympic swimmer for Great Britain
- Duncan Keith, Canadian ice hockey player
- Duncan Kibet, Kenyan long-distance runner
- , Canadian fencer
- Duncan Lindsay, Scottish footballer
- Duncan McClure,, Scottish footballer
- Duncan Mugabe, Ugandan tennis player
- Duncan Ochieng,, Kenyan footballer
- Duncan Reid, Hong Kong basketball player
- Duncan Robinson (basketball),, American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat
- Duncan Weir, Scottish rugby union player
Theatre and movies
- Duncan Brennan, American actor
- Duncan Jones, British-American movie director and writer of Moon and Warcraft
- Duncan Lamont, Scottish actor
- Duncan Pflaster, American playwright and actor
- Duncan Regehr, Canadian stage, film and television actor
Literature
- Duncan Campbell Scott, Canadian poet
Music
- Duncan Coutts, Canadian bassist for Our Lady Peace
- Duncan James, British singer
- Duncan Lamont, British jazz saxophone player and composer
- Duncan Laurence, Dutch singer
- Duncan Sheik, American singer
Politics
- Duncan Baird, American politician
- Duncan Hunter, American politician
- Duncan D. Hunter, American politician
Science
- Duncan A. MacInnes, American chemist
- Duncan Odom, Cancer researcher
Education
- Duncan Ivison, Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester
Journalism
- Duncan McCue, Canadian journalist
- Duncan Garner, New Zealand journalist
- Duncan Watt, Singaporean news presenter, radio announcer and writer
Business
- Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish entrepreneur
- Duncan Hines, American entrepreneur
- Duncan Penn, entrepreneur, author, and executive producer
- Duncan Phyfe, Scottish-born American cabinetmaker
Fictional characters
- Duncan, a character in the Total Drama series
- Duncan Quagmire, a character in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket
- Duncan, a character in The Railway Series and its televised adaptation, Thomas and Friends
- Duncan Dhu, character of the book Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson inspiring the name of the Spanish band
- Duncan Douglas, a character in Freakazoid!
- Duncan Idaho, a character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert
- King Duncan, a character in the William Shakespeare play Macbeth, based on Duncan I of Scotland
- Duncan MacLeod, a character in Highlander: The Series
- Ser Duncan the Tall, a character in Tales of Dunk and Egg, a series of novellas written by George R. R. Martin, set in the same universe as A Song of Ice and Fire
- Duncan P. Anderson, a character in Monsters at Work, a spin-off TV series to the movie ''Monsters, Inc.''