[3] However, from the explanation given in 1 Samuel 1:20, the name could alternatively come from a contraction of the Hebrew שְׁאִלְתִּיו מֵאֵל (Modern: Šəʾīltīv mēʾĒl, Tiberian: Šĭʾīltīw mēʾĒl), meaning "I have asked/borrowed him from God".

[4][5] This is the verse in which the Prophet Samuel's mother Hannah names her son, after praying that she would be able to give birth.

Her prayers having been answered, she dedicates the child to God as a Nazirite.

As a Christian name, Samuel came into common use after the Protestant Reformation.

It is also quite popular in countries that speak English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Scandinavia, Italy, Romania, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia.