Samson

Meaning of Samson

Samson, from the Hebrew שִׁמְשׁוֹן (Shimshōn) and transmitted into ecclesiastical Latin as Samson—“sol” or “he who shines like the sun”—bears a resonance that is both philological and mythic, for in the Vulgate’s Book of Judges the eponymous hero stands as a leonine figure whose prodigious strength flickers and flares with the solar imagery of his name; thus, when modern parents choose Samson, they participate in a continuum that weds ancient Near-Eastern symbolism to the Christian humanist tradition embodied in the phrase lumen gentium, the light of nations. The name’s historical arc in the United States, quietly luminous rather than meteoric, has progressed from the outer constellations of the popularity charts a century ago to a steady mid-field orbit—ranking in the low 500s through much of the late twentieth century and ascending to 461 newborns in 2024—suggesting a revivalist appeal that glows, like dawn’s first rays, without the glare of fleeting fashion. Because the biblical narrative entwines Samson’s uncut hair, his covenantal vocation, and his ultimate act of sacrificial strength, the name carries associative threads of resilience, consecration, and paradoxical humility, qualities that many parents, seeking a name whose sound is robust yet refined, find quietly compelling. In sum, Samson offers the bearer a mantle of solar radiance tempered by moral depth, an onomastic choice that speaks in a venerable Latin register yet warms the contemporary ear with its rhythmic, sonorous cadence—SAM-suhn—invoking not merely a label but a storied legacy of light meeting strength.

Pronunciation

English

• Pronunced as SAM-suhn (/ˈsæmsn/)

• Sam
• Sampson
• Samuel
• Solomon
• Simon
• Sebastian
• Sawyer