Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Saul

Saul is most commonly thought of as a Jewish name. He was borne from the Bible as the first King of Israel, predecessor to David. One of Israel’s great leaders, Samuel, ushered in the Israel monarchy by anointing its first king, Saul. Why Saul? Good question. The simple answer is that it was “God’s will” determined by a lost donkey and a roll of the dice (wait, we’ll explain). Saul was off looking for his father’s lost donkeys and went to Samuel (considered a “seer”) for help. God already told Samuel to expect Saul and instructed Samuel to “anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.” [1 Samuel 9:16]. After telling Saul he is to be king, Samuel gathered all the tribes and people of Israel together in 1 Samuel 10 and cemented the selection of king “by lot” (which basically means the roll of sacred dice). It certainly seems fairer than a coin toss, right? The other thing you should know about Saul is that he was considered the tallest, most handsome man among the Israelites. Basically, Saul came from a wealthy family, he’s tall, dark and handsome, popular among the people, and now he’s king. We wonder if he got “Most Likely to Succeed” in his high school yearbook. In any case, things don’t actually work out perfectly for this perfect guy. He has one glaring issue: he tells fibs. And we can’t exactly call them “white lies” because Saul has the bad judgment to disobey the specific commands of the Big Guy upstairs and then lie about it to Samuel. It’s from the Saul story that we get a couple expressions: “your days are numbered” and “the writing is on the wall”. So God tells Samuel that David will replace the disobedient Saul as king. Nonetheless, Saul had an important place among the Israelites. We know he meant well, at least. But more importantly, he was one foxy dude. Saul comes from the Hebrew name Sha'ul meaning ‘asked for, prayed for’ perhaps indicating the Israelites’ request for a king “to rule over us and protect us from our enemies.” Saul will always be remembered as Israel’s first king, even if David was a little better at the obedience part.

All About the Baby Name – Saul

Personality

OF THE BOY NAME SAUL

The number Eight personality has everything to do with power, wealth and abundance. Somehow, this personality has been blessed on the material plane, but their authoritative and problem-solving traits provide evidence that their good fortunes are not just the luck of the lottery. They are well earned. This is the personality of CEOs and high-ranking military personnel. Eights are intensely active, hard-driving individuals. Success is only meaningful to them after a job well-done.  They are remarkable in their ability to see the larger picture right down to the smallest details, and organize a strategy around success. They then have the ability to direct a group around them toward any goal, and realize individual potential to get the most out of their team.

Popularity

OF THE BOY NAME SAUL

Saul is the poster child of consistent moderate usage on the American male naming charts. The name dates back to 1880, as far back as the U.S. government began tracking naming trends. This is a name most favored within the Jewish community, but it does have cross-over appeal to Christians. In fact, Saul was the name of St. Paul prior to his conversion to Christianity (Acts 9:4) so the Puritans have been using this name since the 17th century. Still, the name Saul has never achieved higher than #270 on the American popularity charts, which means this name (although familiar) is relatively lightly used. Furthermore, considering today’s modern naming styles, Saul may be just a little too “old-man” of a name, even to the Jewish people. You definitely picture Saul sitting around the BINGO room at the community center with Ezra, Walter and George – perhaps with their wives Ruth, Esther, Mabel and Gladys. Although this is part of his charm – the name is so old-fashioned and out-dated by today’s naming standards that Saul is actually so different he’s cool. If you want to ‘ask for, pray for’ a tall, handsome, kingly boy, then Saul might be the perfect choice for you.

Quick Facts

ON SAUL

GENDER:

Boy

ORIGIN:

Hebrew

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

1

RANKING POPULARITY:

439

PRONUNCIATION:

SAWL

SIMPLE MEANING:

Asked for, Prayed for

Characteristics

OF SAUL

Authoritative

Powerful

Tough

Tenacious

Wealthy

Problem-solver

Achiever

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Saul

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME SAUL

We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Saul

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME SAUL

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Saul


Popular Songs

ON SAUL

We cannot find any popular or well-known songs with the name of Saul


Famous People

NAMED SAUL

Saul Bellow (Nobel Prize winner, literature)
Saul Hudson (aka "Slash", guitarist for Guns N' Roses)

Children of Famous People

NAMED SAUL

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Saul

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME SAUL

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Saul