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 [ 3 syll. sa-man-(t)ha, sam-an-tha ] The girl name Samantha is pronounced as SahMAENTHah KEY. Samantha is an 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. Samanthi (English), Samanthia (English), Samatha (English), Samella (English), Schmuela (Hebrew), and Symantha (English) are variants of Samantha. Other forms of Samantha include the short form Sam (English), the pet forms Sami (English), Sammi (English), Sammie (English), and Sammy (English), and the variant spellings Samanta (English, French, and German), Samanthe (English), and Sammantha (English). See also the related form, 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 2008, its usage was 0.538% and its ranking #11, 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 Symantha (English), Samanta (English, French, and German), Samanthi (English), Samatha (English), Sammantha (English), Sananda (Indian), Segunda (Spanish), Shanita (English), Shantay (English), Shawanda (English), Shenita (English), Simonette (French), Sindia (English), Sinead (Irish), Sinéad (Irish), Sinthia (English), Sonida (English), Sonita (English), Sunita (Indian), and Syndia (English). A famous person named Samantha is Actress Samantha Morton, born 13 May 1977, Nottingham, England. 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)"   |
