Samuel m. Origin disputed, either Hebrew םיהולאה םש 'name of God' or Hebrew םיהולא עמש 'God has heard'.
The eponymous character of two Old Testament books, a 7th C Coptic saint, a 10th-11th C tsar of Bulgaria, and an 11th C king of Hungary. Wyclif (1395): Samuel.
The name was not common in England before the Protestant Reformation.