The modern English equivalent is “Samuel” which is a common English name. “Sam” is a common abbreviation. The name is found in their translations of Taanach so it isn’t “strange” sounding to them.
Names such as Sherman and Seymour or Sigfried are non-Jewish names with different meanings that are adopted in order to obscure your Jewishness. The different meanings can be a problem (“Sherman” is actually a family name that is popular in America since it was the name of a great general who liberated much of the south during the civil war – making him a hero to northern whites and southern blacks, but not to many southern whites who didn’t quite see it the same way). Shmuel is slightly problematic for English speakers since the initial consonant combination is unknown in English, as is the vowels combination in the end.
Of course one can always use the Jewish name “Shmuel” on official documents, and use “Sam” as a nickname when going among the goyim.