Etymology

Samuel

Sam·u·el
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Today it means: A male given name from Hebrew. Full definition →

Latin Samuēl ← Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ ← Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל
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The story

  1. Biblical Hebrew · derived fromשְׁמוּאֵל
  2. Ancient Greek · derived fromΣαμουήλ
  3. Latin · borrowed fromSamuēl
  4. English todaySamuel

From Latin Samuēl, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל (šəmûʾēl, literally “'God has set' or 'God has placed'”). Taken to mean a contraction of popular folk etymology שְׁאִלְתִּיו מֵאֵל (“I have asked/borrowed him from God”) (Modern: Šəʾīltīv mēʾĒl, Tiberian: Šĭʾīltīw mēʾĒl) by way of שָׁאוּל מֵאֵל (“asked/borrowed from God”) from 1 Samuel 1:20.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.