Meaning and background
The story behind Kingsley
Kingsley began as an English surname drawn from a place name, traditionally explained as ‘king’s wood’ in Old English. That geographical ancestry is more specific than saying it simply means king. The name is familiar as both a surname and given name, and the recorded English pronunciation has two syllables. Its initial sound echoes King, but its full history belongs to English place naming.
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About Kingsley
Recorded as a dog’s name
Kingsley appears in 10 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
/kɪŋzli/
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
/kɪŋzli/ · primary stress on syllable 1K IH1 NG Z L 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.