In this study, nanostructured CuO, Cd0.01Cu0.99O and Cu0.98Cd0.01M0.01O (M: Pb, Bi, Sn) films were synthesized using the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction technique. The effects of Cd-doping, Sn, Pb, and Bi double doping on the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties were systematically investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–Vis spectroscopy, and current–voltage (I–V) measurements, respectively. XRD results show that the peak intensity, crystallite size, and texture coefficient of the films changed intensely with double doping. SEM images reveal that the surface morphology of the nanostructures changed with the kind of dopant materials due to the differences in ionic radius. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy studies confirmed the presence of Cd2+, Sn4+, Pb2+, and Bi+5 in the doped films. The estimated average optical band gap energies of the CuO samples varied from 1.366 to 1.480 eV with double doping. The lowest average electrical resistivity of 1.21 × 106 Ω cm was found for the Bi0.01 Cd0.01Cu0.98O sample.