Sam
A surname usually taken as a short form of Samuel, though in some cases it may preserve a local name or another longer surname.
The #2,974 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,616 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In surname use, Sam is usually understood as a reduced form of Samuel, the biblical name from Hebrew, often meaning “heard by God” or “name of God” in older interpretations. Some 19th-century writers also treated related surnames like Sams and Sampson as formations from Sam or Samuel. Because Sam can also appear as a clipped form of longer surnames or as an independent given name, the origin is not always certain in every family line.
History
The name is relatively uncommon as a standalone surname, and many bearers may come from families whose earlier form was Samuel, Sams, Sampson, or a similar variant. In English records, short patronymic forms often developed naturally from familiar given names, especially in informal speech and later in fixed surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname books often treated Sampson as a patronymic from Sam or Samuel rather than directly from the biblical strongman Samson.
From the historical record
“Brook [O.E. sand, sand -f hume] SAM BROOK (Eng.) Bel. to Sambrook; or Dweller at the Sandy Brook [O.E. sand- brdc] SAMMELS ± Samuels, q.v. SAMMON\_ e„i„„„ SAMON j^- Salmon. SAMMONDS] SAMMONS ^v. Salmons. SAMONS j”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)