BABY NAMES
Samuel
Hebrew
 Up in popularity
 Down in popularity
 Best bet
 Unisex
In its long form, Samuel sounds dapper and old-fashioned, like the gray-haired captain of a Mississippi river boat or a berobed Supreme Court justice. Break it down to Sam, however, and you have a modern-day kid who's ready to have some fun.

Variations
Samual, Samualle, Samuele, Samuell
Popularity rankings from the Social Security Administration
Samuel
About name popularity rankings
You may find some surprises -- for example, who knew Jennifer was a boy's name? Because this feature uses actual Social Security data, it includes the human error that attends a large survey, but it still reliably reflects the patterns of naming fashion.