girl's name
Samara
suh-MAR-uh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 26,352
the United States
#320
2025 births
Samara is a girl's name with several sources. In botany a samara is the winged seed of an elm or maple; it is also a Russian city on the Volga, an ancient Mesopotamian site, and a form of the Hebrew Shomron. Sources rarely distinguish between them.
- Samara is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 2018, when 1,270 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,464 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1949.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Samara over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1940s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1940s | 5 |
| 1950s | 68 |
| 1960s | 180 |
| 1970s | 898 |
| 1980s | 1,082 |
| 1990s | 1,772 |
| 2000s | 5,967 |
| 2010s | 6,853 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,944 |
What Samara means
Samara names a winged seed — the spinning key of a sycamore or ash — through the Latin. Separately it is read as a place name, and in Hebrew use it connects to Shomron, the biblical Samaria, meaning a watch-post.
Where Samara comes from
Samara has at least three independent lines. The botanical samara is Latin, naming the winged fruit of elms, ashes and maples that spins as it falls. Samara on the Volga is one of Russia's largest cities, named for the river, and Samarra in Iraq holds the ninth-century spiral minaret of its Great Mosque. The Hebrew Shomron, rendered Samaria in Greek, comes from a root meaning to watch or guard and names the biblical capital of the northern kingdom. English use draws on all of these, and for many families the name arrived through none of them but through the 2002 film The Ring.
Samara in use
Samara charts in only four of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2018.
How popular is Samara?
In 2025, Samara was given to 957 babies in the United States, ranking #320 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Samara 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 Samara
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Samara also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Samara over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Samara
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.
Samara 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 Samara
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Samara — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Samara
What does the name Samara mean?
In botany it is the winged seed of an elm or maple. It is also a Russian city and, through Hebrew Shomron, connects to a root meaning to watch.
Is Samara a Hebrew name?
It can be, through Shomron, the biblical Samaria. But the botanical and Russian lines are separate and equally real.
How do you pronounce Samara?
suh-MAR-uh is the usual English pronunciation.
How popular is the name Samara?
In 2025, Samara was given to 957 babies in the United States, ranking #320 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Samara a girl's or a boy's name?
Samara is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Samara?
Samara has 3 syllables.
When was Samara most popular?
Samara peaked in 2018, when 1,270 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Samara?
Samara is usually shortened to Sam and Mara.
Is Samara a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Samara currently ranks #320 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.