FastNamesSamuel
Hebrew name meaning "Derived from Hebrew Shemu'el (שְׁמוּאֵל), traditionally translated as 'name of God' (from shem 'name' and El 'God') or 'heard of God' (from shama 'to hear').". Ranked 18th for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Samuel
Derived from Hebrew Shemu'el (שְׁמוּאֵל), traditionally translated as 'name of God' (from shem 'name' and El 'God') or 'heard of God' (from shama 'to hear').
Linguistically, Samuel is classified under Hebrew naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "SAM-yoo-uhl".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Samuel has been given to a total of 820,196 boys. It has also been given to 2,889 girls.
Peak year: Samuel reached its highest relative share among boys in 1880, when 1,024 babies received the name (9,268 per million births).
All-time best rank: 17th place, first achieved in 1880.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 18th with 8,334 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 23rd (up 5 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Samuel in the 2000s than in any other decade (138,647 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 9,129 |
| 1890s | 7,857 |
| 1900s | 8,149 |
| 1910s | 34,166 |
| 1920s | 43,362 |
| 1930s | 32,135 |
| 1940s | 43,129 |
| 1950s | 53,767 |
| 1960s | 44,247 |
| 1970s | 48,099 |
| 1980s | 73,456 |
| 1990s | 125,597 |
| 2000s | 138,647 |
| 2010s | 108,128 |
| 2020s | 50,328 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Samuel is most common in the US
Accounting for when Samuel was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- South Carolina: 1.6 times the national rate (17,769 births since 1910).
- District of Columbia: 1.5 times the national rate (4,744 births since 1910).
- Alaska: 1.4 times the national rate (1,883 births since 1910).
- Alabama: 1.4 times the national rate (19,663 births since 1910).
- Delaware: 1.4 times the national rate (2,348 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Samuel?
About 628,000 living American boys and men share the name Samuel. Additionally, an estimated 2,200 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Samuel is 28 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Samuel
In the Hebrew Bible, Samuel was the son of Hannah, who dedicated him to the service of God at the sanctuary of Shiloh after praying fervently for a child. Samuel became the revered last judge of Israel and anointed both Saul and David as its first kings, bridging the era of the tribal confederacy and the United Monarchy.
While used occasionally in medieval Europe, Samuel achieved widespread international prominence following the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. English and Scottish Puritans enthusiastically embraced biblical patriarchal names, carrying Samuel to colonial Massachusetts and Virginia, where early leaders like Samuel Adams helped forge the American Republic.
In United States demographic records, Samuel holds one of the most unbroken records of high-tier popularity in American history. It has ranked in the national top 100 in every single year since SSA records began in 1880, standing as a timeless evergreen classic. In the twenty-first century, it experienced a renewed surge, climbing to rank 19 in 2021 with over 9,000 newborn boys.
Notable people named Samuel
- Samuel Adams (1722–1803), American Founding Father and statesman
- Samuel L. Jackson (1948–), American actor and producer
- Samuel Morse (1791–1872), American inventor of Morse code and painter
- Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Irish novelist, playwright, and Nobel laureate
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 240.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 262.
- Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), p. 1034.