Meaning and background
The story behind Samson
Samson has a well-supported Hebrew history: Shimshon is derived from shemesh, the word for sun. Exactly how its ending shaped the original sense is debated. In the Hebrew Bible, Samson is a judge noted for remarkable strength; another bearer, Saint Samson, helped transmit the name through medieval western Europe. That historical imagery may make it appealing for a dog, but it is not evidence of the dog’s temperament.
- Origin
- Biblical Hebrew Shimshon, derived from shemesh “sun”; historical English use also linked with Saint Samson. Source
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About Samson
Recorded as a dog’s name
Samson appears in 49 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
/sæmsən/
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
/sæmsən/ · primary stress on syllable 1S AE1 M S AH0 N
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
Gender association: NYC licence-period records. Any dog can use this name.
- 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.