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Samantha - Origin and Meaning of the name

 
 

 


The girl name Samantha [ 3 syll. sa-man-(t)ha, sam-an-tha ] is pronounced as SahMAENTHah KEY. Samantha is a English, French, and German name of English origin. The name is of disputed origin; it most likely evolved from the combination of Sam with an invented feminine suffix '-antha', perhaps under the influence of Anthea. It was first used in the southern states of the US in the 18th century, especially by Afro-Americans. It became more widespread among general English speakers by the mid 20th century. The name was popularized by the song 'I Love you, Samantha' from the movie High Society (1956); it was written by Cole Porter and introduced by Bing Crosby.

Forms of Samantha include the short form Sam (English), the pet forms Sammie (English) and Sammy (English), and the variant spelling Samanta (English, French, and German). See also the related forms, Sam (English) and Anthea (English and German).

Samantha is very popular as a baby girl name. The name's popularity rose from the 1960s up to the 1990s. At the height of its usage in 1991, 1.262% of baby girls were given the name Samantha. It was #5 in rank then. The baby name has seen a loss in popularity since then. In 2007, its usage was 0.561% and its ranking #12, but it was nonetheless the most frequently used within all girl names in its family. Samantha has primarily been a girl name, though in the last century it has also been used for boys. In 1989, 215 times as many girls than boys were given the name Samantha.

Baby names that sound like Samantha include Samanta (English, French, and German), Segunda (Spanish), Simonette (French), Sinead (Irish), Sinéad (Irish), Cinthia (Portuguese), Cynthia (English and German), Sandy (English and Scottish), Santa (Italian), Senta (German), Shante (English), Simonetta (Italian), Cindy (English), and Cinta (English).

KEY: Pronunciation for Samantha: S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"


A famous person named Samantha is Actress Samantha Morton, born 13 May 1977, Nottingham, England.

Popularity Trend
for Samantha
from 1900 to 2007Variant Popularity Chart
for Samantha
in 2007

Meaning of Samantha Meaning of Sam Meaning of Sammy Meaning of Sammie Meaning of Samanta Meaning of Anthea Meaning of Sam Meaning of Sampson Meaning of Sammy Meaning of Samson Meaning of Sansone Meaning of Samuel Meaning of Samu Meaning of Shmuel Meaning of Sawyl Meaning of Samy Meaning of Samuli Meaning of Samuil Meaning of Samuele Meaning of Samoyla Meaning of Samuela Meaning of Sami Meaning of Samia Meaning of Samiha Meaning of Samya Meaning of Jos_0_eacute_1__Samuel