Shmuel

What Shmuel means

Variant of Samuel, meaning “God has set or God has placed”

variant of Samuel || From Latin Samuēl, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmûʾēl, literally “'God has set' or 'God has placed'”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Shmuel” (revision 87453300) and “Samuel” (revision 94543237), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Shmuel?

US: Steady: #1016 in 2015, #920 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #1186 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 256 boys got the name (#920 that year). First in the US records in 1953.

How common

• About 1 in 6,672 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 14,312 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NJ (2.87 per 1,000 boys), NY (1.07 per 1,000 boys), MD (0.44 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Shmuel is #920 in the US and #1406 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Shmuel were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Shmiel63 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Shmuel

Boys

• Zev#864“wolf”^*
• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Ezra#20Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #93 in 2015, #20 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters
• Eden#544possibly “steppe, garden”^*
• Boaz#891Editor’s note Up from #1,307 in 2015 to #891 in 2025 in the US

For a sister

• Naomi#47“my pleasantness”^*
• Rivka#628Same root as Rebecca, meaning “enchantingly beautiful, captivating…^*
• Delilah#51Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #115 in 2015, #51 in 2025
• Ezra#833Editor’s note Up from #1,199 in 2015 to #833 in 2025 in the US
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Eliana#10Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #102 in 2015, #10 in 2025. 6 letters, starting with a vowel

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Shmuel’s. Rank is US 2025.