Nickname meaning of the people, from German 'Deutsch'; used as an American given name.
Dutch as a given name is almost entirely an American phenomenon, born from the long tradition of using ethnic or regional nicknames as affectionate personal identifiers. The word 'Dutch' in American English historically referred to Germanic-speaking peoples — particularly German and Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch) settlers — and later was applied loosely across the American frontier as a general term that could mean anything from 'from the old country' to simply 'foreign but trustworthy.' As a nickname it was warm and no-nonsense, the kind of handle you'd earn in a baseball dugout or a cavalry regiment.
Its most famous bearer may be Ronald Reagan, whose childhood nickname was Dutch — reportedly given by his father because he looked like 'a fat little Dutchman' as a baby. That presidential association gives the name a distinctly twentieth-century American political flavor. Dutch Schultz, the Prohibition-era gangster born Arthur Flegenheimer, wore the name with menacing charisma in the 1920s and 1930s, while Dutch Leonard was a celebrated early-twentieth-century baseball pitcher, demonstrating the name's deep roots in American sporting culture.
Later, Predator's Major 'Dutch' Schaefer — played by Arnold Schwarzenegger — cemented the name's action-hero associations for the 1980s generation. As a formal given name rather than a nickname, Dutch is rare and deliberately unconventional — parents who choose it are usually reaching for something rugged, American, and comfortably masculine without the formality of traditional names. It has a frontier energy that sits naturally alongside other earthy, single-syllable names like Buck, Beau, or Clint.