I'm trying to determine if I have a name match in records for my Ukrainian family.

There is a reference to an uncle by the name of Samuel, in my great-grandfather's 1921 passport application.  I have found no records for a Samuel in Jewishgen databases, but many records for a Simschon/Simson. I know that this Simschon is related because certain data on these records match, such as house numbers on birth records, etc.

The Ukrainian Given Names database on Jewishgen lists Sam/Samuel/Simon/Shimon. Could Samuel be used interchangeably with Simschon/Simson at this time? Or is that too much of a stretch?

Thanks in advance!

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Amy Mitchell

Hi,

I met a caddy for a blind Israeli golfer, whose name was Shimshon Levi.

He told me “Shimshon” was the same as Sampson as in the Old Testament.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Doug Burrows

Three different Hebrew names:
Shimshon = Sampson
Shim'on = Simeon or Simon
Shmuel = Samuel

All appear in the bible, 3 different persons.


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Odeda Zlotnick
Jerusalem, Israel.

My great-great grandfather was registered officially as Samuel Neuwelt, but in Bikkur Holim book and the gravestone he was Simson.
(Papa, Veszprém, Hungary)
best:

Marianna Toth

My grandfather's American name was Samson. His Hebrew name was Simschon. Samuel and Samson are different people. Consider who he was named for.

 From the Hebrew name שִׁמְשׁוֹן (Shimshon), derived from שֶׁמֶשׁ (shemesh) meaning "sun". Samson was an Old Testament hero granted exceptional strength by God. 

Origin: The name Samuel comes from either the Hebrew words Shem (name) and El (God), or Sh'ma (hear) and El (God). The name can be interpreted either as “name of God” or “God has heard.”

Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the period of the biblical judges to the institution of a kingdom under Saul, and again in the transition from Saul to David. He is venerated as a prophet by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Jim Peskin

While Shmuel (Samuel)and Shimshon (Samson)are separate names it's still possible that he chose Samuel as his secular name. The best would be to find his gravestone since it would likely show his Hebrew name and secular name together.
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Binyamin Kerman
Baltimore MD

Researching:
KERMAN Pinsk 
SPIELER Lodz, Zloczew, Belchatow
SEGALL, SCHWARTZ Piatra Neamt

Hi, although Shimshon (Samson), Shimon (Simon), and Shmu'el (Samuel) were 3 distinct people in the Bible, I've found cases among my elders and extended family where "Sam" or "Samuel" was taken as their English name although the Hebrew was "Shimon" - or something else even further afield.  

Good Luck!

Susan H. Sachs, Israel
susan.hersh.sachs@...

I've seen many instances of Sam or Samuel and Simon being used interchangeably with Samson/Shimshon in the Bacharach families in Germany and the US. I know they are separate names with separate linguistic origins, but in practice I've seen it when the patriarch the people are named for was clearly Shimshon/Samson. 
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Rachel Unkefer
Central Virginia, USA

You must remember that there is absolutely no compulsion to 'match' the English name with the Hebrew one.  Theoretically one's Hebrew name could be, say, Yitzhak while his English name is Gordon.  That said, the vast majority did try to make their English name similar to their Hebrew one.  In my family history, there are 2 Sams named after the same person, whose Hebrew name - and theirs - is Shlomo (Solomon), not Shmuel (Samuel).
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Steve Goldberg
Jerusalem, Israel
Researching:
Sagan/Shagan family from Veliuona (Velon), Lithuania
Goldberg family from Vidukle, Lithuania
Susselovitch/Zuselovitch family from Raseiniai (Rassein), Lithuania

My Szymon was Simon; my Zalman was Solomon; my cousin Steven was named after a Szloma. There are no rules about English name taken. Only my Zalman came here and chose his English name. 

Shelley Mitchell, NYC