Samuel

From Latin Samuēl, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmûʾēl, literally “'God has set' or 'God has placed'”).^[1][2]

Taken to mean a contraction of popular folk etymology שְׁאִלְתִּיו מֵאֵל (“I have asked/borrowed him from God”) (Modern: Šəʾīltīv mēʾĒl, Tiberian: Šĭʾīltīw mēʾĒl) by way of שָׁאוּל מֵאֵל (“asked/borrowed from God”)^[3] from 1 Samuel 1:20.^[4]

• IPA^(key): /ˈsæmjuːəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Hyphenation: Sam‧u‧el

Samuel

Books of Samuel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Samuel on Wikisource.Wikisource Wiktionary has an Appendix listing books of the Bible

1. A male given name from Hebrew.
   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Chapter 34”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

     It was quite unnecessary to call Samuel Weller; for Samuel Weller stepped briskly into the box the instant his name was pronounced; and placing his hat on the floor, and his arms on the rail, took a bird’s–eye view of the Bar, and a comprehensive survey of the Bench, with a remarkably cheerful and lively aspect. ‘What’s your name, sir?’ inquired the judge. / ‘Sam Weller, my Lord,’ replied that gentleman. / ‘Do you spell it with a “V” or a “W”?’ inquired the judge. / ‘That depends upon the taste and fancy of the speller, my Lord,’ replied Sam; ‘I never had occasion to spell it more than once or twice in my life, but I spells it with a “V.” ’ / Here a voice in the gallery exclaimed aloud, ‘Quite right too, Samivel, quite right. Put it down a “we,” my Lord, put it down a “we.”’

   • 1914, Jack London, The Strength of the Strong/Samuel:

     I went down the dark road between the hawthorn hedges puzzling over the why of like, repeating SAMUEL to myself and aloud and listening to the rolling wonder in its sound that had charmed her soul and led her life in tragic places. SAMUEL! There was a rolling wonder in the sound. Aye, there was!

   • 1947 June 1, “24 FROM THIS AREA IN MARYLAND DEAD; Union City Woman Was Flying to Funeral -- North Bergen Couple on First Air Trip”, in The New York Times‎^[3], archived from the original on 25 December 2025:

     Samuel Storch, 55, lived in Miami and commuted by air to New York to operate two metalcraft factories with other members of his family.

3. One of two books of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.

   Synonym: (abbreviation) Sam.

5. (biblical) The primary author and central character of the first book of Samuel.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 1:20:

     Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

6. A surname.

• (pet forms): Sam, Sammie, Sammy, Samuelson
• Samantha (this etymology is speculative)

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Samuel is the 1558th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 23,125 individuals. Samuel is most common among White (23.0%) and Black/African American (53.0%) individuals.^[5]

• Alemus, Muelas, amelus, museal, salume, ulemas

Samuel m

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel
2. (religion) Samuel

• IPA^(key): [ˈsamuɛl]

Samuel m anim (relational adjective Samuelův)

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

Samuel c

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

• Samuël

• Audio:

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Samuel m

1. (biblical) Samuel (a Biblical figure; one of two books of the Bible)
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

From Latin Samūēl, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmûʾēl).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑmuel/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝mue̞l]
• Rhymes: -ɑmuel
• Syllabification^(key): Sa‧mu‧el
• Hyphenation^(key): Sa‧mu‧el

Samuel

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Biblical Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

• (given names): Sami, Samu, Samuli
• (surnames): Moilanen

• Samuel is the 107^th most common male given name in Finland, belonging to 6,081 male individuals (and as a middle name to 15,468 more, making it more common as a middle name), and also belongs to 16 female individuals (and as a middle name to 14 more), according to August 2025 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.

• IPA^(key): /sa.mɥɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɥɛl

Samuel m

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

• émulas, muséal, musela

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Samuel m

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Biblical Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

• Sämi in eastern Switzerland

From Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmūʾḗl).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [saˈmuː.eːɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [saˈmuː.el]

Samūēl m sg (genitive Samūēl or Samūēlis); indeclinable, variously declined, third declension

1. Samuel

Indeclinable noun or third-declension noun, singular only.

• Italian: Samuele

Samuel m

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

Samuel m

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

Learned borrowing from Latin Samuel, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmūʾḗl).

• IPA^(key): /saˈmu.ɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uɛl
• Syllabification: Sa‧mu‧el

Samuel m pers

1. (biblical) Samuel (Biblical character)
2. a male given name, equivalent to English Samuel

• Samuel in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɛl, (Brazil) -ɛw
• Hyphenation: Sa‧mu‧el

Samuel m (plural Samuéis)

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel
2. (biblical) Samuel (one of two books of the Bible)
3. (biblical) Samuel (a leader of ancient Israel)

• IPA^(key): /samuel/, [ˈsamuel]
• Rhymes: -uel
• Hyphenation: Sa‧mu‧el

Samuel m pers (diminutive Samo or Samko)

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel
2. a surname
3. (biblical) Samuel (one of two books of the Bible)
4. (biblical) Samuel (a leader of ancient Israel)

• “Samuel”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

• IPA^(key): /saˈmwel/ [saˈmwel]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: Sa‧muel

Samuel m

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Biblical Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

• Audio:

  (file)

Samuel c (genitive Samuels)

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

(patronyms): Samuelsdotter (“Samuel’s daughter, daughter of Samuel”), Samuelsson (“Samuel’s son, son of Samuel”)

Borrowed from Spanish Samuel.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /samˈwel/ [sɐmˈwɛl]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: Sam‧uel

Samuél (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜋ᜔ᜏᜒᜎ᜔)

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Spanish

From Late Latin Samuēl, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmûʾēl, literally “name of God”).

Samuel m (not mutable)

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name, equivalent to English Samuel

• 1 Samuel
• 2 Samuel