Dempsey
Masculine · “proud”
Dempsey is given to both — 4,249 boys and 550 girls since 1880. See Dempsey as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Dempsey is Irish and the word underneath it is not flattering: díomasach means proud in the sense of haughty. Irish bynames were frank, and the families that carried them mostly stopped noticing after a few centuries.
How old is the name Dempsey?
Dempsey was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Dempsey alive today was born around 1955, making them about 70 years old. About 2,400 people named Dempsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dempsey most popular?
Dempsey peaked in 1880, reaching #571 nationally. Today it ranks #2991, 2,420 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From díomasach to Dempsey
The story of Dempsey
The Ó Díomasaigh were a Leinster family who held land in what is now County Laois and Offaly, and they were prominent enough to be recorded fighting the Anglo-Norman advance for several centuries. The surname anglicized as Dempsey, Demsey and Dempsy, and it reached America in large numbers with nineteenth-century emigration. It became a given name there in the twentieth century, helped along by a heavyweight boxer of the nineteen-twenties whose name was everywhere for a decade.
Meaning
proud, haughty
Irish Ó Díomasaigh is built on díomasach, 'proud, arrogant', and it named a family rather than describing every member of it. The reading is documented and not disputed. Irish surnames of this kind — descriptive and unsparing — are common, and the descendants generally kept them regardless.
How the name formed
- díomasach
- Ó Díomasaigh
- Dempsey
Related forms: Ó Díomasaigh
Pronouncing Dempsey
DEMP-see
Two syllables, stress on the first. There is no ambiguity in the sound at all; only the spelling occasionally needs checking.
Nicknames for Dempsey
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1919107 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #571reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −21.2%41 in 2025, from 52
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Dempsey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ó Díomasaigh in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Dempseys among us
people named Dempsey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 41,660 born in 2025 was named Dempsey
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Dempsey sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Dempsey is headed
Dempsey should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Dempsey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dempsey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Irish surname with a genuine and traceable meaning.
- Two syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- Used for both sexes in recent American practice, so it carries no strong expectation.
- Its meaning is 'haughty', which is worth knowing before rather than after.
- It is unmistakably a surname and will be read as one on forms.
- Dempsey, Demsey and Dempsy all circulate, though the first is much the most common.
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What they receive
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Dempsey
Masculine · #2991 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dempseys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Dempsey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dempsey in 2025?
- Dempsey ranks #2991 among US boy names in 2025, with 41 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dempsey?
- About 1 in every 41,660 US boys born in 2025 was named Dempsey — 41 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dempsey with classmates?
- Dempsey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dempsey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roran#2991 · Izaak#2991 · Nyle#2991 · Levin#2991 · Tilden#2991 · Hanson#2991 · Breck#2991 · Oswaldo#2991
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dempsey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dempsey and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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