Samuel
m.
Origin disputed, either Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל 'name of God' or Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל '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. Wycliffite Bible (1395): Samuel.
The name was not common in England before the Protestant Reformation, and was never common at all elsewhere. Early English examples are often (but not exclusively) the names of Jews.
- England
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- Latin
- ● 1185x1186 Samuel (nom) PR-XXXVI p. 4;
1189 Samuel (nom) GASurv p. 129
- Dutch
- ● 1571 Samuel AuFr Cornelis;
1572 Samuel ibid. Artis;
1574 Samuel ibid. Donghen;
1577 Samuel ibid. Bent;
1579 Samuel ibid. Bree;
1580 Samuel ibid. Clerx;
1581 Samuel ibid. Daele;
1582 Samuel ibid. Drossaert;
1586 Samuel ibid. Backer;
1587 Samuel ibid. Adriaensz;
1589 Samuel ibid. Begnorts;
1591 Samuel ibid. Cliever;
1592 Samuel ibid. Berghe;
1594 Samuel ibid. Adriaensz;
1596 Samuel ibid. Burlij;
1597 Samuel ibid. Dries;
1598 Samuel ibid. Damme
- Early Modern English
- ● 1550 Samuell StAnthonlin p. 8;
1552 Samuell ibid. p. 9;
1559 Samuell ibid. p. 13;
1564 Samuell ibid. p. 17;
1570 Samuel bruton-vol1 p. 39;
1572 Samuell StAnthonlin p. 22;
1573 Samuell ibid. p. 23;
1575 Samuell ibid. p. 24;
1577 Samuell ibid. p. 25;
1578 Samuell ibid. p. 26;
1579 Samuell ibid. p. 27;
1584 Samuell ibid. p. 30;
1586 Samuell ibid. p. 32;
1587 Samuel DEmar-vol2 p. 13,
Samuell OrpingtonKe p. 8;
1589 Samuell CAmar-vol1 p. 130;
1590 Samuell BEmar-vol1 p. 14,
CAmar-vol1 p. 4;
1591 Samuell OrpingtonKe p. 8;
1593 Samuel DEmar-vol2 p. 26;
1594 Samewell CAmar-vol1 p. 5;
1595 Samuel BUmar-vol9 p. 9;
1597 Samuel DEmar-vol2 p. 36;
1598 Samwell CAmar-vol1 p. 6;
1599 Samuel DEmar-vol2 p. 42,
Samuell StAnthonlin p. 39
- Finland
-
- Early Modern Swedish
- ● 1582 Samuel (nom) Audén1980 p. 172
- France
-
- Latin
- ● c823 Samuel (nom) irminon-vol2 61
- Middle French
- ● 1563 Samuel RegPCC-1 p. 27;
1564 Samuel ibid. p. 53;
1566 Samuel ibid. p. 206;
1589 Samuel raymond1588 p. 572
- Germany
-
- Latin
- ● 847 Samuele (abl) HambUrk-vol1 XII;
1217 Samuelis (gen) quix-vol1 71
- Italy
-
- Latin
- ● 1376 Samuele (abl) DouGen1 p. 61
Cite as: R. Le Get, S.L. Uckelman. "Samuel". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2016, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2016/1/name/Samuel.