Samuel
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Meaning
from Hebrew Shemu'el, interpreted as "name of God" or "God has heard"
Goes by Sam, Sammy. See all nicknames
Famously borne by Samuel Eto'o.
The story
Samuel comes from Hebrew Shemu’el, but its interpretation is not settled. One analysis combines elements for “name” and “God”; another connects the first part with hearing, giving the traditional reading “God has heard.”
In the First Book of Samuel, the boy repeatedly runs to Eli because he thinks the older man is calling him. Eli eventually recognizes the call as God’s and teaches Samuel how to answer. That child becomes a prophet with a difficult role in the change from rule by judges to rule by kings. The biblical account has him appoint Saul, Israel’s first king in the narrative, and later David, using the ritual of anointing with oil. He helps bring kings into power while remaining uneasy about kingship itself.
Jewish use continued well beyond the biblical setting. In eleventh-century Muslim-ruled Granada, the poet and scholar known in English as Samuel ha-Nagid served as a leading minister, led the Jewish community and supported learning. Christian use has a separate history: Samuel became common after the Protestant Reformation. It is established in English, Spanish, Portuguese and other languages, while Shmuel is a Hebrew form. English Sam, Sammy and Sammie are familiar forms, though Sam can also belong to other names.
Samuel Adams, raised in Boston’s Puritan tradition, helped organize colonial resistance to British taxes and imperial control. His tools included letters, political arguments, town meetings and the Massachusetts legislature. He helped organize committees that exchanged letters to connect opponents in different places.
Samuel Clemens is better known by his writing name, Mark Twain. His childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, and work as a Mississippi riverboat pilot supplied material for Tom Sawyer and Life on the Mississippi. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a boy travels down the river with Jim, who is escaping slavery. The adventure and humor also confront the society that accepts Jim’s enslavement, giving Clemens’s storytelling its serious critical purpose.
Samuel's name family
One shared root links 4 names in English.
Shared root: from Hebrew Shemu'el, traditionally read "God has heard"
The family
More branches
How popular is Samuel around the world?
In the United States, 50,381 babies were named Samuel between 2020 and 2025. In Austria, 318 boys named Samuel were born in 2025, the 22nd most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
Samuel is on the official records of the United States, Austria, Argentina, Norway, South Australia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico City, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Spain, France, England and Wales, New Zealand, Montevideo, New South Wales and Poland.
Samuel crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record, of a Spanish-speaking one and of Brazil’s 2022 census, which counts people of every age. The full lists: English and Spanish · English and Portuguese · Spanish and Portuguese
United States
1 in 430
In the United States, 50,381 babies were named Samuel between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Samuel peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Austria
1 in 240
In Austria, 318 boys named Samuel were born in 2025, the 22nd most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Argentina
1 in 290
In Argentina, 2,252 newborns were given the name Samuel in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Norway
1 in 300register 2026
In Norway, 93 boys were given the name Samuel in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
South Australia
1 in 3202017
In South Australia, 57 boys were registered as Samuel in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Chile
1 in 330
In Chile, 532 boys were registered as Samuel in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Brazil
1 in 390
At the 2022 census, 522,131 people in Brazil were named Samuel, the 37th most common name, with a median age of 12.
Among people named Samuel living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 81,460 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Mexico City City
1 in 410
In Mexico City, there were 288 registrations of Samuel in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (15 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Canada
1 in 510
In Canada, 723 boys named Samuel were born in 2024, the 24th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 630
In Scotland, 73 boys named Samuel were registered in 2024, the 69th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 690
In Ireland, 78 boys named Samuel were born in 2025, the 76th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Puerto Rico
1 in 720
In Puerto Rico, 25 babies were named Samuel in 2025, and 1,417 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Spain
1 in 730
In Spain, 61,517 residents are named Samuel, the 68th most common name among men, with a mean age of 24.2 years.
In Spain, Samuel was the 43rd most common name among boys born in 2024.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
France
1 in 760
In France, about 850 boys named Samuel were born in 2025, the 70th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
England and Wales
1 in 760
In England and Wales, 768 boys named Samuel were born in 2025, the 66th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
New Zealand
1 in 890
In New Zealand, 65 boys named Samuel were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Montevideo City
1 in 9802011
In Montevideo, 25 boys named Samuel were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
#38 · 2025
In New South Wales, 165 boys named Samuel were registered in 2025, ranked 38th in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Poland
1 in 1,500
In Poland, 169 boys named Samuel were born in 2025, the 101st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
When you meet Samuel
Most people given the name Samuel in the United States were born between 1970 and 2019. The Samuel you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Samuel travels
Haitian · a common Haitian given name
Jewish American · a beloved classic prophet's name
Korean American · Traditionally interpreted as "God has heard".
Amharic and Ethiopian · biblical name, widely used
Keep exploring
Names like Samuel · Names that go with Samuel · Nicknames for Samuel · Middle names for Samuel · Haitian baby names · Jewish American baby names · Amharic and Ethiopian baby names · Korean American baby names · Hebrew baby names
The Samuel deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Samuel truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Samuel fits with your family’s names and surname.
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