(m) A Hebrew name of obscure meaning, though
it contains the word ‘God.’ Samuel was rather popular
in Scotland until recent times. In England and Wales it
has been little used this century, though it has aroused
interest in both countries in the late 1970’s. In Scotland
the name was 20th most frequently used in 1858, 31st in
1935 and 57th in 1958. In spite of the fall-off in the 1950’s.
parents were undoubtedly using the name with more intensity at
that time than parents elsewhere in the English-speaking world.
One reason for the name’s relative popularity in Scotland
may be its use as a substitute for Gaelic Somhairle, Somerled,
or Sorley (a borrowing from a Norse name meaning ‘summer
To Scottish Christian Names