1 Samuel 1:20

20. Called his name Samuel This name ( שׁמואל ) is a contraction of שׁמוע אל , heard of God, and alludes to the fact that God heard Hannah’s prayer for a child. Some derive the name from שׁם אל , name of God, which etymology, though possible, does not well agree with the comment of the immediate context. The derivation from שׁאול מאל , asked of God, though agreeing well with the comment of the context, is too artificial and farfetched. “The words Because I have asked him of the Lord are not an etymological explanation of the name, but an exposition founded upon facts. Because Hannah had asked him of Jehovah, she named him the God-heard, as a memorial of the hearing of her prayer.” Keil. “His name,” says Smith, (Old Testament History,) “is expressive of the leading feature of his whole history, the power of prayer. Himself the child of prayer, he gained all his triumphs by prayer; he is placed at the head of those ‘who called upon Jehovah and he answered them.’”