Douglass changes his name twice between Baltimore and Massachusetts. What is the name his mother gave him? How does he finally arrive at the name Douglass?

Frederick's given name was Augustus Washington Bailey. Douglass decided to settle on a new name, having dropped his two middle names given at birth and having discarded other names he used along his path to freedom. He decided upon "Douglass" as a surname because Mr. Johnson had been reading "The Lady of the Lake."