Given name
Shmuel
“God has heard”·“asked of God”
In Jewish use, Shmuel is a form of Samuel. Suggested meanings include “God has heard” and “asked of God.” The exact derivation is not certain.
Meaning & origin
What it means
In Jewish use, Shmuel is a form of Samuel. Suggested meanings include “God has heard” and “asked of God.” The exact derivation is not certain.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In Jewish use, Shmuel is a form of Samuel. Samuel comes from Hebrew Shemuel, with a long history in Jewish and Christian naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Jewish use, Shmuel is used as a form of Samuel. In Jewish use, Shmuel is a form of Samuel. The shared background comes through Samuel: One explanation understands the name as God hearing a parent’s prayer. Another connects it with a shortened Hebrew phrase meaning “asked of God,” echoing Hannah’s words about her son.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1953. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In Jewish use, Shmuel is a form of Samuel. The history of Samuel gives this family its wider story. In the Bible, Samuel is called by God while still a child and later becomes a prophet who anoints Saul and David. Samuel was especially favoured by English and American Puritans and later Nonconformists.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Shmuel through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5,972
- 5,972 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 256 babies
- 2025
- 256
- #923 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +16%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 256 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 923 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 16.3% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, New Jersey had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (114). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,228 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Shmuel’s family of names
In English usage, Shmuel has a diminutive in SHMULEY. Shmuel shares a linguistic root with Samuel. In English usage, Shmuel was borrowed from the Yiddish form שמואל.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Shmuel
- Shmuel Yosef AgnonUkrainian-born Israeli Hebrew writer, Nobel laureate in Literature (1888–1970)1887–1970
- Shmuel EisenstadtIsraeli sociologist (1923–2010)
- Samuel BenezraIsraeli manager, IDF officer, rocket scientist, and figure in the Israeli defense establishment.born 1973
- Shmuel SchneersohnOrthodox rabbi (1834-1882)
- Shmuel DayanIsraeli politician (1891–1968)
- Shmuel GonenIsraeli general1930–1991
- Shmuel Flatto-SharonIsraeli politician (1930–2018)
- Sam VakninIsraeli writerborn 1961
- Shmuel CohenMoldovan composer; composer of the Israeli National Anthem (1870–1940)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Shmuel, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Cal
“the little bald one” · “dove”
>99% boys
Beck
“from the small stream; from the brook”
94% boys · 6% girls
Ismael
“God will listen”
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Musa
“a savior”
>99% boys
Samson
“sun man”
>99% boys
Boaz
“swiftness” · “one who is swift”
>99% boys
Ezequiel
“God strengthens” · “strengthened by God”
>99% boys
Moshe
“to give birth to”
>99% boys