Samuel
Masculine · “name of God”
Samuel is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 820,196 boys against 2,889 girls since 1880. See Samuel as a girl name
The Bible explains this name and gets it wrong. Hannah says she called him Samuel because she asked the Lord for him — but asked in Hebrew is sha'al, which is the verb behind Saul, not behind Samuel. The story fits the other king's name, and it has been sitting in the text for three thousand years.
How old is the name Samuel?
Samuel was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Samuel alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 632,000 people named Samuel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Samuel most popular?
Samuel peaked in 1880, reaching #17 nationally. Today it ranks #18, 1 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Samuel appears on these lists:
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Names that never go out of style
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- all guides
Works in French and Scandinavian families too:
Where it comes from
From Shemu'el to Samuel
The story of Samuel
Samuel is the hinge of the story: the last of the judges and the man who anoints the first two kings, first Saul and then, when Saul fails, David. He is also the one who argues against having a king at all, warns the people exactly what a monarchy will cost them, and is overruled. The books that carry his name run long after his death, which tells you how much of the tradition was organized around him. The name went into English use with the Reformation, when Protestant families turned to the Hebrew scriptures for names, and it has never really gone away since; it went quiet through much of the last century and came back without any push at all.
Meaningscholars disagree
name of God — or, in the other reading, God has heard
Hebrew Shemu'el is read two ways: shem, name, with el, God, giving the name of God; or a form of shama, to hear, giving God has heard. The narrative in First Samuel attaches a third explanation, from a verb meaning to ask, which does not fit the letters. Two of the three are serious and the third is famous.
Cultural footprint
Samuel L. Jackson (b. 1948) — The highest-grossing actor in film history
Samuel Morse (b. 1791) — Invented Morse code
Samuel Beckett (b. 1906) — Nobel laureate who wrote Waiting for Godot
Samuel Johnson (b. 1709) — Wrote the first great English dictionary
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Shemu'el
- Samouel
- Samuel
Related forms: Shmuel · Samuel · Samuel · Samuele · Samu'il · Sawyl
Pronouncing Samuel
SAM-yoo-ul
Three syllables, stress on the first. Spanish and French put the weight at the end, sah-MWEL. Hebrew Shmuel has two syllables and no vowel at all in the first, which English cannot manage.
Nicknames for Samuel
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
- 200114,813 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #17reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −1.1%8,334 in 2025, from 8,427
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.
Samuel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Shmuel in Hebrew — same name
- Samuel in Spanish — same name
- Samuel in Portuguese — same name
- Samuele in Italian — same name
- Samu'il in Arabic — transliteration
- Sawyl in Welsh — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, INSEE. Sources
Samuels among us
people named Samuel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 205 born in 2025 was named Samuel
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
Samuel has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Samuel is headed
Samuel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Samuel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Samuel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled identically in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German.
- Three thousand years of continuous documented use.
- Sam is instantly usable, serves either child, and is a full name on its own.
- Two serious readings of the meaning, both of which are short sentences about God.
- It is very widely used and has been for most of the last two decades.
- Sam is shared with Samantha, Samson and Sampson, so it identifies nothing.
- The explanation the Bible itself gives for the name does not fit the name.
- The very few girls given this spelling will be read as boys on every form.
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Samuel
Masculine · #18 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Samuels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 632,000 people named Samuel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Samuel in 2025?
- Samuel ranks #18 among US boy names in 2025, with 8,334 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Samuel?
- About 1 in every 205 US boys born in 2025 was named Samuel — 8,334 in all.
- Will my child share the name Samuel with classmates?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Samuel.
Ranked beside Samuel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leo#19 · Hudson#17 · Ezra#20 · Sebastian#16 · Jack#15 · Michael#21 · Luca#14 · Daniel#22
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Samuel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Samuel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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