Variant of Samson, from Hebrew 'shimshon' meaning 'sun' or 'of the sun'.
Sampson is an English variant spelling of Samson, one of the most dramatic names in the Hebrew Bible. The original Hebrew name Shimshon derives from shemesh, meaning "sun," and the name may have carried solar associations in ancient Israelite culture. The biblical Samson — a judge of Israel blessed with superhuman strength that resided in his uncut hair — is one of scripture's most vivid and tragic figures: a warrior who defeats a lion bare-handed, slays a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, and is ultimately betrayed by the cunning Delilah, who cuts his hair while he sleeps.
The alternate spelling Sampson has a long independent history in English records, where it functioned both as a given name and a hereditary surname. It appears in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as the name of a Capulet servant, a small role that nonetheless kept it in the cultural vocabulary. As a surname, Sampson has been carried by notable figures across many fields.
The variant spelling likely emerged through medieval scribal conventions and regional pronunciation, and both forms have coexisted in English usage for centuries. Historically, Samson and Sampson were popular in Puritan communities that favored Old Testament names for their children, and the name traveled with English settlers to the Americas, where it appeared regularly in colonial records. In the nineteenth century it was common enough to be entirely unremarkable; by the twentieth it had faded to rarity. Today Sampson is experiencing a quiet reappraisal, appealing to parents who want a strong, sonorous biblical name that feels less ubiquitous than Samuel or Simon — big in sound, rich in story, and genuinely uncommon.