Dempsey
"dempsey" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Dempsey” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,947 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #22,947
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from Irish.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Dempsey |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #22,947 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Dempsey” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Dempsey is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun. Corpus data places it at rank #22,947 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for Dempsey, with forms such as "ddempsey", "demmpsey", and "dempesy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Dempster", "demise", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Díomasaigh (“descendant of Díomasach”), a byname deriving from díomasach (“proud, arrogant”). The correct English form is Dempsey, spelled D-E-M-P-S-E-Y.
Definition
- 1A surname from Irish.
- 2An extinct town in Bannock County, Idaho, United States.
- 3An unincorporated community in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States.
Etymology
Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Díomasaigh (“descendant of Díomasach”), a byname deriving from díomasach (“proud, arrogant”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddempsey,demmpsey,dempesy,demppsey,dempseyy,dempssey,dempsye,demspey,depmsey,dmepsey,edmpsey
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Dempsey - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What does "Dempsey" mean?
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Using “Dempsey”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-M-P-S-E-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “Dempster” - see the side-by-side comparison. Dempsey vs Dempster
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.