| The boy name Samuel [ 2 syll. sa-muel, sam-u-el ] is pronounced as SAEMYuwL KEY. Samuel is an English, French, and German name of Hebrew origin. Samuel's meaning is God has heard; asked of God. Biblical name derived from the elements 'shama' meaning to hear ; 'el' meaning God, powerful ; 'shaul meel' meaning asked of God. Shemuel (Hebrew) and Shmuel (Hebrew) are original forms of Samuel. The name could be of the Hebrew Shemuel or Shmuel, from the elements 'shama' and 'el', or else as a contraction of the Hebrew 'shaul meel'. It was borne in the Bible by the prominent 11th century BC judge and prophet who gave his name to two books of the Old Testament; his mother stated that she had Samuel because she 'asked him of the Lord'. The name has traditionally been a Jewish name; it was later widely adopted by English Puritans in the 17th century. In Scotland, it is taken as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Somhairle. The short form Sam is found in Uncle Sam, the personification of the United States (US); the term has been used since 1812. The name Samuela (Italian) is the female form of Samuel. Samoyla (Russian), Samuele (Italian), Samuil (Russian), Samuli (Finnish), Samy (Arabic and French), Sawyl (Welsh), and Shmuel (Hebrew) are variants of Samuel. Sammy (English pet form), Samu (Hungarian pet form), and Sam (English short form) are other variants of Samuel. Samuel is very popular as a baby name for boys. The name's popularity has been growing since the 1960s. Its usage peaked in 2001 with 0.715% of baby boys being given the name Samuel. It ranked at #26 then. In 2007, its usage was 0.600% and its ranking #25, and it was the most popular among all boy names in its group. In 2007, 22 times more boys were named Samuel than the subsequent ranked name, Sam (English). Baby names that sound like Samuel include Samoyla (Russian), Samuele (Italian), Samuil (Russian), Samuli (Finnish), and Shmuel (Hebrew). KEY: Pronunciation for Samuel: S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; Y as in "yield (Y.IY.L.D)" ; UW as in "two (T.UW)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)"
Details of famous persons named Samuel:
Actor Samuel L. Jackson, born 21 December 1948.
Artist Samuel F. B. Morse, born Samuel Finley Breese Morse, 27 April 1791 - 2 April 1872, Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Inventor Samuel Colt, born 19 July 1814 - 10 January 1862, Hartford, Connecticut.
Lawyer Samuel Alito, born Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr., 1 April 1950, Trenton, New Jersey.
Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, born 21 October 1772 - 25 July 1834, Devonshire, England.
Writer Samuel Beckett, born 13 April 1906 - 22 December 1989, Dublin, Ireland.
Writer Samuel R. Delany, born 1 April 1942, New York, New York.
Writer Samuel Johnson, born 18 September 1709 - 13 December 1784, Lichfield, England.
Writer Samuel Pepys, born 23 February 1633 - 16 May 1703, London, England. |
