Samuel

“Name of God; also glossed 'God has set' or 'asked of God'” — Hebrew origin

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

Samuel has appeared in US records since 1880 — best rank #17 (1880) · 820,196 babies named Samuel all-time · 1 in 200 boys born in 2025.

Around the world: #2 in Slovakia (2025) · #10 in Brazil (2025) · #21 in Czechia (2025) · #22 in Austria (2025) · #24 in Canada (2024).

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

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 · First Book of Chronicles
Samuel (Sam Winchester) — Supernatural
Samuel (Sam Fisher) — Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell · Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

What Samuels become

Among 8,636 notable people named Samuel:

Lawyers & judges appear 2.33× more often than among typical names — e.g. Samuel Alito, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2006.

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