Samule
Hebrew origin, meaning "God has heard" or "Told by God".
Name Census estimates that about 229 living Americans carry the first name Samule. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Samule today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samule births was 1960 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samule. 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.
People living today
229
~ 1 in 1,496,744 Americans
Peak year
1960
14 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2009 SSA rank
#14,124
Tracked since 1918
Census
Samule in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 390 people with the first name Samule, which placed it at #24,620 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
#24,620
National first-name rank
People counted
390
390 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samule
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samule is White at 46.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Hispanic (21.3%). 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 Samule 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 Samule at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.9% · 183
- Black or African American21.5% · 84
- Hispanic or Latino21.3% · 83
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 19
- Two or more races3.6% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 7
Popularity
Samule: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samule from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 83 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
Samule 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 Samule 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 Samule
The given name Samule has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, tracing back to ancient biblical times. It is a variant spelling of the name Samuel, which derives from the Hebrew words "shema" meaning "to hear" and "El" referring to God. The name can be interpreted as "God has heard" or "name of God."
In the Old Testament of the Bible, Samuel was a prominent prophet and judge who played a crucial role in anointing both Saul and David as kings of Israel. He is considered one of the most important figures in the history of ancient Israel and is revered in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Samule can be found in the Book of Samuel, which details the life and deeds of the prophet. However, the spelling variation "Samule" is relatively uncommon in historical records and may have emerged later as a result of regional linguistic differences or transcription errors.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Samule or its more common spelling, Samuel. One of the earliest was Samule Ha-Naggid (993-1056), a prominent Jewish scholar, philosopher, and statesman who served as the vizier to the Berber rulers of Granada in medieval Spain.
Another notable figure was Samule Pepys (1633-1703), an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, best known for his extensive diary which provides valuable insights into 17th-century English society and the Great Plague of London.
In the realm of literature, Samule Beckett (1906-1989) was an Irish novelist, playwright, and poet, celebrated for his avant-garde works such as "Waiting for Godot" and "Endgame." He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969.
In the field of science, Samule Morse (1791-1872) was an American inventor and artist, best known for developing the Morse code and the telegraph system, which revolutionized long-distance communication.
More recently, Samule L. Jackson (born 1948) is an acclaimed American actor known for his roles in films like "Pulp Fiction," "Jurassic Park," and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he portrays the character Nick Fury.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Samule or its variants, contributing to its rich historical legacy and cultural significance across various fields and eras.
People
Samule + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samule 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
Samule: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samule?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 229 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samule 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 1,496,744 US residents.
Is Samule a common name?
We classify Samule as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 314 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samule most popular?
The single biggest year for Samule was 1960, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samule is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samule in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 390 people with the name Samule, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,620 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 Samule 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 Samule?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Samule appears almost entirely male. Of the 378 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Samule?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samule is White at 46.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Hispanic (21.3%). 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 Samule most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Samule in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.9% (183 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 Samule in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samule a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samule 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 Samule still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samule 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 Samule 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 Samule as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Samule on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.