| [ 2 syll. sam-son, sa-ms-on ] The boy name Samson is pronounced SAEMSahN KEY. Samson is of Hebrew origin, and it is used largely in the English and German languages. Samson's meaning is 'sun child, little sun'. Biblical name derived from the element shemesh which means 'sun'. An original form of Samson is the Hebrew Shimshon. The name was borne in the Bible by the Israeli leader known for his unparalleled strength; he was deceived by his mistress Delilah and captured, but he managed to exact revenge and destroy his captors by bringing down the temple of the Philistines, killing himself in the process. His story was later popularized as the subject of Samson Agonistes (1671), a tragic closet drama by John Milton. The name was also borne by the famous 5th and 6th century Saint Samson of Dol, one of the seven founder saints of Brittany; his name could however be of an obscure Celtic origin. The name has been adopted by English speakers since the Middle Ages; it later saw a revival among the 17th century Puritans. Variations of the name include the English Sampson and the Italian Sansone. Other variants of Samson include the English pet form Sammy and the English short form Sam. Samson is somewhat popular as a baby name for boys. The name has been rising in popularity since the 2000s. At the modest peak of its usage in 2007, 0.010% of baby boys were given the name Samson. It ranked at #897 then. In 2007, out of the group of boy names directly linked to Samson, the English Sam was the most popular. The name was thrice as popular as Samson in that year. A baby name that sounds like Samson is the Italian Sansone. KEY: Pronunciation for Samson: S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"
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