In this study the effects of using defected ground structures (DGS) composed of a complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) and CSRR with dumbbell (CSRR-D) for rectangular microstrip antennas are investigated. On this aim, two different antennas, which are Antenna B having CSRR etched DGS and Antenna C having CSRR-D etched DGS are designed and fabricated in comparison with the ordinary rectangular patch antenna, which is Antenna A. In both Antenna B and C, CSRR structures are etched in the same position of the ground planes. On the other hand, another ordinary microstrip antenna, called Antenna D, is designed at resonance frequency of Antenna C. For the characterization, resonance frequencies, voltage standing wave ratios, percentage bandwidths, gains, ka values and gain radiation patterns are investigated both in simulations and experiments. The numerical analyses show that 29.39 % and 44.49 % electrical size reduction (ESR) ratios are obtained for Antenna B and Antenna C, respectively in comparison to Antenna A. The experimental results verify the ESR ratios with 29.15 % and 44.94 %. Supporting, Antenna C promises 68.12 % physical size reduction (PSR) as it is compared with Antenna D. These results reveal that Antenna C is a good alternative for DGS based microstrip electrically small antennas.