girl's name
Samantha
sa-MAN-tha (English)
- Origin Disputed
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 667,385
the United States
#151
2025 births
Samantha is a girl's name of uncertain origin, first recorded in America in the eighteenth century. It is usually explained as a feminine of Samuel, but no one has demonstrated how it was formed, and the -antha ending has no Hebrew source.
- Peaked in 1990, when 25,926 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,680 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Samantha Over Time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, which so far covers 2020 to 2025.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 159 |
| 1890s | 174 |
| 1900s | 135 |
| 1910s | 181 |
| 1920s | 186 |
| 1930s | 175 |
| 1940s | 292 |
| 1950s | 486 |
| 1960s | 11,051 |
| 1970s | 29,027 |
| 1980s | 121,578 |
| 1990s | 224,384 |
| 2000s | 134,497 |
| 2010s | 56,990 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 14,737 |
What Samantha Means
Samantha has no established meaning. If it is a feminine of Samuel it inherits God has heard; the anthos, flower, reading sometimes offered for the ending is a guess with no evidence behind it.
Where Samantha Comes From
Samantha appears in New England records from the eighteenth century with no antecedent, which is the core of the puzzle. The usual account makes it a feminine of Samuel — from the Hebrew Shemu'el, God has heard — with an ending borrowed from Anthea or from the Greek anthos, flower, but that combination is not attested anywhere and looks like reasoning backwards from the sound. The name was rare until Bewitched put Samantha Stephens on American television in 1964, after which it climbed steeply for three decades.
Samantha in Use
Birth records show Samantha falling, peaking in 1990, and it first appears in birth records in 1880. Its curve is one of the clearest single-cause rises on record: near-flat until 1964, then climbing for twenty-six years after Bewitched, then falling. Very few names show a cause and a peak that far apart.
How Popular Is Samantha?
In 2025, Samantha was given to 1,973 babies in the United States, ranking #151 that year. It ranks among the top 1,000 names in the United States.
Where Samantha Is Used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names That Peaked Alongside Samantha
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents Who Like Samantha Also Like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Samantha over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
How to Say Samantha
- English sa-MAN-tha /səˈmanθə/
4 nicknames for Samantha
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Samantha in Other Languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling Names for Samantha
Names from the same era that do not rhyme or share an initial with Samantha — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common Questions About Samantha
What does the name Samantha mean?
There is no established meaning. If it is a feminine of Samuel it would mean "God has heard," but the formation is unexplained.
Where does Samantha come from?
It appears in eighteenth-century New England records with no antecedent, which is why its origin remains unresolved.
Did Bewitched make Samantha popular?
Birth records show it near-flat until the show began in 1964, then climbing for twenty-six years to a 1990 peak.
Is Samantha a girl's or a boy's name?
Samantha is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Samantha?
Samantha has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Samantha?
Samantha is usually shortened to Sam, Sammy, Sammie and Sami.
Is Samantha a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Samantha currently ranks #151 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.