Samuel

Meaning: Name of God; also glossed 'God has set' or 'asked of God'
Origin: Hebrew

Nicknames: Sam, Sammy, Sammie, Uel

Boy's name · #18 in the US (2025) · Comeback

Popularity over time

Samuel ranked #18 in 2025, with about 820,000 boys carrying it since 1880. It has now held the national top 100 for more than a century without a break.

Across the states

See where Samuel is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 51 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

Samuel is especially popular in Slovakia and Brazil.

#2 in Slovakia (2025) · #10 in Brazil (2025) · #19 in Switzerland (2025) · #21 in Czechia (2025) · #22 in Austria (2025) · #24 in Finland (Finnish-sp.) (2025) · #31 in Mexico (2024) · #34 in Ecuador (2025) · #35 in Finland (other-lang.) (2025) · #38 in Australia (NSW) (2025) · #41 in Australia (QLD) (2025) · #44 in Spain (2024) and 16 more.

Famous Samuels

Samuel Beckett — Irish writer (1906–1989)
Samuel Johnson — English writer and lexicographer (1709–1784)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge — English poet, literary critic and philosopher (1772–1834)
Samuel L. Jackson — American actor (born 1948)
Samuel Finley Breese Morse — American inventor and painter (1791–1872)

In stories & tradition

Samuel — First Book of Samuel (Bible)
Samuel (Sam Winchester) — Supernatural (TV series)
Samuel (Sam Fisher) — Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (book)

What Samuels become

Among 8,796 notable people named Samuel:

Lawyers & judges appear 2.33× more often than among typical names — e.g. Samuel Alito, American magistrate (born 1950).

Twin names

Popular twin pairings with Samuel include Benjamin and Daniel for boys, and Sophia for a girl.

Spellings & nicknames

About 420 boys a year are given Sam as their full name and 110 Sammy.

Similar names: Benjamin · Zachary · Jack · Daniel · Levi · Isaac

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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