Is the name Samuel an Irish name? My 4x great grandfather was named Samuel after his father Samuel Sullivan, however, he was born out of wedlock. Samuel was Roman Catholic and I have found the baptismal information. I have come across the name Samuel only a few times in the many years that I have been researching in different families not related to me. Any thoughts?
Respectfully
Jacqueline
Looking at the 1901 Irish census, there are 27,444 people with the forename Samuel, so I’d say it’s a common enough name in Ireland.
When entering baptisms and marriages in the parish registers, some priests chose to "Latinize" the first names of the people involved. Samuel was a common way of Latinizing the Irish name Somhairle, which was sometimes anglicized as "Sorley" (a rough approximation of the Irish pronunciation). It was also sometimes anglicized as Charles. Samuel is actually a Hebrew name, of course, but the priests used various Biblical or classical names (such as the Greek name Dionysios for the Irish name Donncha) which apparently seemed more appropriate to them than perfectly good Irish names. At least they didn't normally try to alter surnames.
Some of the latinized forms were never used by the family apart from those events, but some "stuck" and continued to be used, especially in official records (as did many anglicized forms). The name Somhairle is originally of Norse origin, and was sometimes written as Samhairle. It also appears as a surname, Mac Somhairle (MacSorley), and was a particularly common given name among the McDonnell's, especially in Antrim (but also in Mayo), who are a branch of the Scottish Clan MacDonald and have deep Norse roots.
Hello Kevin,
Thank you very much for your quick response. My relatives used the name of Samuel throughout our history and my g-g-grandfather, Samuel Wheeler had two sons but named them John and Michael. I thought since his father never married his mother, Catherine, Samuel and was not named after her father (George) my 4x great grandfather.
Respectfully,
Jacqueline
Hello Elwyn,
Thank you for the information. I would not have guessed that there were so many males named Samuel!
Respectfully,
Jacqueline