Meaning of the nameSamuel

Samuel is a masculine name of Hebrew origin, linked to Shemuʾel, which sources explain as 'name of God' or 'God has heard'.

Meaning

“name of God; also read as 'God has heard'”

Source: Wiktionary: Samuel · Behind the Name: Samuel

More names that mean God

People (2022): 522,131
Rank in Brazil: #37
Median age: 12 years
2010 Census: 293,243; people

Samuel in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Samuel, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 2010s (185,624 people).

4,137 women 517,994 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Samuel is most common

States with the highest share of people named Samuel in the population, in the 2022 Census.

Distrito Federal 0.338%
Tocantins 0.323%
Goiás 0.318%
Minas Gerais 0.317%
Acre 0.313%

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	108,736	0.245%
Minas Gerais	65,019	0.317%
Rio de Janeiro	37,770	0.235%
Bahia	37,691	0.267%
Paraná	26,559	0.232%
Ceará	23,188	0.264%
Goiás	22,407	0.318%
Pará	21,835	0.269%
Pernambuco	21,822	0.241%
Rio Grande do Sul	21,459	0.197%
Maranhão	16,951	0.250%
Santa Catarina	16,571	0.218%
Amazonas	12,203	0.310%
Paraíba	11,237	0.283%
Espírito Santo	9,982	0.260%
Distrito Federal	9,524	0.338%
Mato Grosso	9,521	0.260%
Rio Grande do Norte	8,093	0.245%
Piauí	7,901	0.242%
Alagoas	7,496	0.240%
Mato Grosso do Sul	7,041	0.255%
Tocantins	4,874	0.323%
Rondônia	4,014	0.254%
Sergipe	3,881	0.176%
Acre	2,594	0.313%
Roraima	1,893	0.297%
Amapá	1,869	0.255%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Samuel

The name comes from Latin Samuēl, Greek Σαμουήλ and Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmûʾēl), according to Wiktionary. Behind the Name reads it as 'name of God', from shem ('name') and ʾel ('God'), and also records the reading 'God has heard'; Wiktionary gives the literal meaning 'God has established' and treats the idea of 'asked of God' as a folk etymology. In the Bible, Samuel is the name of the last judge of Israel and of two books of the Old Testament. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 522,131 people named Samuel, with a median age of 12.

Sources

Wiktionary: Samuel · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Behind the Name: Samuel · behindthename.com · meaning
Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Samuel · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · spelling

Questions about the name Samuel

What does the name Samuel mean?

Samuel means “name of God; also read as 'God has heard'”, according to Wiktionary and Behind the Name.

How many people are named Samuel in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 522,131 people with the first name Samuel, which ranks it number 37 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 2010s.

Is Samuel a boy's or a girl's name?

Samuel is a male name: in the 2022 Census, 4,137 women and 517,994 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Samuel?

Samuel is a name of Hebrew origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Samuel most common?

Proportionally, in Distrito Federal: 0.338% of the state's population is named Samuel (9,524 people), according to the 2022 Census.

Names that also mean God

See all

More names of Hebrew origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Samuel with a source. See the methodology.