Meaning and background
The story behind Dempsey
Dempsey began as an anglicised Irish surname, not an adjective describing a dog. The Dictionary of American Family Names traces it to Ó Díomasaigh, meaning a descendant of Díomasach, whose personal byname was associated with pride. That historical construction should be retained instead of casually translating Dempsey as proud. Its emphatic opening and two-syllable ending give the surname a natural spoken shape.
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About Dempsey
Recorded as a dog’s name
Dempsey appears in 3 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/dɛmpsi/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/dɛmpsi/ · primary stress on syllable 1D EH1 M P S IY0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.