Sameul
God has heard.
Name Census estimates that about 580 living Americans carry the first name Sameul. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sameul today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sameul births was 1950 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sameul. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sameul with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
580
~ 1 in 590,956 Americans
Peak year
1950
20 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,572
Tracked since 1882
Census
Sameul in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 702 people with the first name Sameul, which placed it at #16,164 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,164
National first-name rank
People counted
702
702 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sameul
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sameul is White at 55.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Hispanic (17.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sameul described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sameul at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.8% · 392
- Black or African American18.4% · 129
- Hispanic or Latino17.1% · 120
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 28
- Two or more races2.8% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 13
Popularity
Sameul: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sameul from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 143 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sameul by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sameul during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sameul
The name Sameul has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language and is derived from the biblical name Samuel, meaning "name of God" or "heard by God." It is a combination of two Hebrew words: "shem" meaning name and "el" referring to God.
The name Samuel first appears in the Old Testament of the Bible, where it is the name of a celebrated prophet and judge of ancient Israel. Samuel was born to Elkanah and Hannah around 1070 BCE and played a crucial role in the transition from the period of judges to the establishment of the monarchy in Israel.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Samuel the Prophet, who lived during the 11th century BCE. He is revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for his pivotal role in anointing both Saul and David as kings of Israel.
Another notable figure named Samuel was Samuel Ha-Nagid, a prominent Jewish scholar, warrior, and statesman who lived in Spain during the 11th century CE (993-1056 CE). He served as the vizier (chief minister) to the Muslim rulers of Granada and was known for his poetic works and contributions to Hebrew literature.
In the 17th century, Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament. He is renowned for his detailed and insightful diary, which provides a vivid account of life in London during the 1660s, including the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), an English writer and lexicographer, is considered one of the most influential literary figures of the 18th century. He is best known for his groundbreaking work, "A Dictionary of the English Language," which he compiled over nine years and was published in 1755.
Samuel Morse (1791-1872) was an American inventor and artist who is credited with the development of the Morse code and the electric telegraph system. His revolutionary invention revolutionized long-distance communication and paved the way for modern telecommunication technologies.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Sameul, a name with deep roots in the Hebrew language and biblical traditions, reflecting its enduring legacy and cultural significance across generations.
People
Sameul + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sameul as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sameul: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sameul?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 580 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sameul going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 590,956 US residents.
Is Sameul a common name?
We classify Sameul as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 871 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sameul most popular?
The single biggest year for Sameul was 1950, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sameul is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sameul in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 702 people with the name Sameul, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,164 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sameul in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sameul?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sameul appears almost entirely male. Of the 701 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sameul?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sameul is White at 55.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Hispanic (17.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sameul most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sameul in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.8% (392 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sameul in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sameul a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sameul in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sameul still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sameul in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sameul can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Sameul?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Sameul, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.