Samual
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "name of God".
Name Census estimates that about 4,296 living Americans carry the first name Samual. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Samual today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samual births was 1997 (127 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samual. 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 Samual with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.3K
~ 1 in 79,785 Americans
Peak year
1997
127 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,389
Tracked since 1880
Census
Samual in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,685 people with the first name Samual, which placed it at #3,216 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
#3,216
National first-name rank
People counted
6.7K
6,685 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samual
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samual is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.3%) and Black (9.0%). 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 Samual 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 Samual at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.9% · 4,670
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 890
- Black or African American9.0% · 602
- Two or more races4.3% · 285
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 127
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 111
Popularity
Samual: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samual from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 974 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Samual 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 Samual during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samuals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Samual, while Iowa, Colorado, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Samual
The name Samual has its origins in the Hebrew language, where it is derived from the Hebrew name "Shemuel" or "Shmuel." The name can be traced back to ancient times, around the 11th century BCE. It is composed of two Hebrew words: "shem," meaning "name," and "el," meaning "God." Thus, the name Samual can be interpreted as "name of God" or "heard by God."
In the Hebrew Bible, Samual was a prominent figure, a prophet and the last of the biblical judges. He played a crucial role in the transition from the period of the Judges to the establishment of the monarchy in ancient Israel. The biblical narrative describes him as anointing both Saul and David as kings of Israel, making him a significant figure in the history of the Israelites.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Samual can be found in the Book of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible, which details the life and deeds of the prophet. The name has been used throughout Jewish history, with various spellings and variations, such as Samuel, Shmuel, and Shemuel.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Samual. One of the most famous is the 12th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar Samual Ibn Tibbon (1150-1230), who was instrumental in translating numerous philosophical and scientific works from Arabic into Hebrew, contributing significantly to the spread of knowledge during the Middle Ages.
Another prominent figure was Samual Gompers (1850-1924), an American labor leader and a key figure in the history of the American labor movement. He served as the president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and played a pivotal role in shaping labor laws and advocating for workers' rights in the United States.
In the realm of literature, Samual Beckett (1906-1989) was an Irish novelist, playwright, and poet, widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969 for his innovative and influential works, such as "Waiting for Godot" and "Endgame."
Samual Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain (1835-1910), was an American writer, humorist, and social critic. He is renowned for his novels, including "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," which are considered classics of American literature and have had a lasting impact on literary culture.
In the field of science, Samual Morse (1791-1872) was an American inventor and artist, best known for his contribution to the development of the telegraph and the Morse code, which revolutionized long-distance communication and paved the way for modern telecommunications.
People
Samual + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samual 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
Samual: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samual?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,296 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samual 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 79,785 US residents.
Is Samual a common name?
We classify Samual as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,584 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samual most popular?
The single biggest year for Samual was 1997, when 127 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samual is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samual in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,685 people with the name Samual, or 2.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,216 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 Samual 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 Samual?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Samual appears almost entirely male. Of the 6,688 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Samual?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samual is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.3%) and Black (9.0%). 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 Samual most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Samual in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.9% (4,670 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 Samual in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samual a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samual 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 Samual still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samual 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 Samual 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 are called Samual?
You can see how many people have the name Samual on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.