Samantha Name Meaning

A female variant of the ever-popular Samuel, Samantha means “name of God.” There are heaps of mystery surrounding her creation with many pointing at the combination of Samuel and Anthea, a female name meaning flower. First appearing in the United States in the 18th century, Samantha remained a hidden gem until the 1960s sitcom Bewitched made it a household name.

Samantha reigned supreme in the 1990s, hanging out in the U.S. Top 10 for girls for a number of years before cooling down. She remains a common choice, but not nearly as popular as she once was. This is to the delight of many parents, as she’s an unexpected choice in a world dominated by Sophia and Olivia.

Her sound is distinguished despite her recent roots, wearing well beside Catherine and Elizabeth. She has a sweet nickname in Sami as well as a total tomboy side with the simple Sam. She’s sporty and fun, right at home on the soccer field or pitching mound. A girl next door name with lots to love about it, Samantha is an obvious choice for many.

Infographic of Samantha name meaning, which is A female variant of Samuel, Samantha is a Hebrew name meaning name of God.
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Samantha Name Popularity

How popular is the name Samantha? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 0 0%
1911 0 0%
1912 0 0%
1913 0 0%
1914 0 0%
1915 1,305 6 0.0007%
1916 0 0%
1917 0 0%
1918 0 0%
1919 1,636 5 0.0005%
1920 1,632 5 0.0004%
1921 0 0%
1922 0 0%
1923 0 0%
1924 0 0%
1925 0 0%
1926 0 0%
1927 0 0%
1928 0 0%
1929 0 0%
1930 0 0%
1931 0 0%
1932 0 0%
1933 1,466 5 0.0005%
1934 0 0%
1935 1,448 5 0.0005%
1936 0 0%
1937 0 0%
1938 0 0%
1939 0 0%
1940 0 0%
1941 0 0%
1942 0 0%
1943 1,630 5 0.0004%
1944 0 0%
1945 0 0%
1946 0 0%
1947 0 0%
1948 1,515 11 0.0007%
1949 1,925 5 0.0003%
1950 1,501 10 0.0006%
1951 0 0%
1952 2,013 5 0.0003%
1953 1,882 6 0.0003%
1954 1,764 7 0.0004%
1955 0 0%
1956 0 0%
1957 1,903 7 0.0004%
1958 1,105 47 0.0025%
1959 1,078 52 0.0027%
1960 1,381 25 0.0013%
1961 1,280 33 0.0017%
1962 1,337 29 0.0016%
1963 1,190 41 0.0023%
1964 475 374 0.0212%
1965 179 1,936 0.1184%
1966 181 1,774 0.1136%
1967 175 1,785 0.1176%
1968 136 2,335 0.1555%
1969 139 2,406 0.1562%
1970 149 2,289 0.1438%
1971 145 2,194 0.146%
1972 137 2,208 0.1621%
1973 135 2,103 0.1622%
1974 128 2,233 0.1718%
1975 101 2,830 0.2202%
1976 85 3,353 0.2602%
1977 85 3,287 0.2439%
1978 74 3,887 0.2891%
1979 66 4,461 0.3164%
1980 58 4,921 0.3366%
1981 51 5,521 0.3756%
1982 44 6,771 0.4531%
1983 40 7,706 0.5222%
1984 39 8,033 0.54%
1985 29 10,658 0.7022%
1986 21 14,092 0.9336%
1987 11 17,941 1.1757%
1988 8 20,699 1.3283%
1989 6 24,791 1.5363%
1990 5 25,866 1.5606%
1991 5 25,644 1.5733%
1992 6 24,408 1.5292%
1993 4 23,668 1.5181%
1994 4 22,818 1.4868%
1995 4 21,645 1.4362%
1996 5 20,548 1.3723%
1997 6 20,169 1.3637%
1998 3 20,193 1.3492%
1999 5 19,036 1.2711%
2000 7 17,266 1.1303%
2001 7 15,862 1.0527%
2002 9 14,662 0.9784%
2003 10 13,865 0.9114%
2004 9 13,782 0.9042%
2005 8 13,636 0.8919%
2006 10 12,460 0.7957%
2007 12 11,877 0.7528%
2008 11 11,178 0.7232%
2009 14 9,658 0.6462%
2010 15 8,405 0.5832%
2011 17 7,393 0.5189%
2012 26 6,924 0.4859%
2013 29 6,502 0.4567%
2014 33 5,720 0.3926%
2015 40 5,332 0.3665%
2016 44 4,938 0.3425%
2017 54 4,295 0.3077%
2018 60 3,887 0.2829%
2019 80 3,338 0.2466%
2020 90 2,883 0.2265%
2021 107 2,378 0.1945%
2022 106 2,571 0.1949%

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Massachusetts (MA)

Maryland (MD)

Maine (ME)

Michigan (MI)

Minnesota (MN)

Missouri (MO)

Mississippi (MS)

Montana (MT)

North Carolina (NC)

North Dakota (ND)

Nebraska (NE)

New Hampshire (NH)

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Wyoming (WY)

Data via SSA.gov.


Names Like Samantha

If you like Samantha, you’ll love these other names like Samantha.


What names are diminutives of Samantha?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Samantha sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Samantha, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Sam

Short for Samuel; Name of God

Hebrew

Samey

English

Sami
Sammee

English

Sammey

English

Sammie

English


What names are variants of Samantha?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Samantha.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Samentha

English

Sammantha

English

Semanntha

English

Semantha

English

Simantha

English

Symantha

English


What names sound like Samantha?

If you like how Samantha sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Samantha.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Amantha

Created name

American

Samuela

God heard

Hebrew

Simonetta

Hear, listen

Hebrew

Simonette

Hear, listen

Hebrew


What names are similar to Samantha?

Find a name that’s like Samantha, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Andrea

Manly and virile

Greek

Ashley

Ash tree meadow

English

Bethany

House of figs

Hebrew

Elizabeth

God is my oath

Hebrew

Heather

“The maiden from the heath,” in allusion to the heather-covered wastelands in the British isles.

English

Jennifer

Fair magical being

English

Miranda

Admirable

Latin

Molly

Of the sea

English

Natalie

Christmas Day

French

Sarah

Princess

Hebrew


Lists With Samantha

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Samantha.


Siblings of Samantha

Mamas with kids named Samantha also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Brooke

Small stream

English

Breeanne

High, noble, exalted

Irish

Chase

Hunter

English

Audrey

Noble strength

English

Selina

The moon

Greek

Juanita

God is gracious

Spanish

13 Comments

  1. A beautiful girl, so peaceful

  2. My husband picked it

  3. This name kept popping into my mind while expecting my 4th child and second daughter. After a family vote, we all decided on Samantha–it’s timeless, classic and sophisticated yet still has a sweetness to it making it an excellent choice from infancy to adulthood. I love this name.

    • I love the name Samantha! That’s why I named my own daughter Samantha. Have you chosen a middle name? I gave my daughter Samantha the middle name of ‘Richelle. I’ve never met anyone with her middle name, nor have I seen it spelled with the ‘ accent mark at least not at the beginning of the name.
      Congratulations

      • That is so crazy because my middle name is Michelle Samantha’s a meaning name of God or like God and it’s the girl version of Samuel also Michelle is a girl version of Michael which means messenger of God and or like God just felt like sharing that with you also I hope your day is going well I’m sending a lot of love to you

  4. It’s a classic name and not crazy popular. I love the gender neutral shortened nickname as well.

  5. Shes my heart

  6. My husband had a dream about the name and gender. He was right about the gender and we loved the name. We feel like she told us what she wants to be named and we went with it 🙂

  7. I choose Samantha because God gave us the name. We prayed for over 8 years for a child. Samantha means God heard and middle name means God answered.

  8. Hey mummy.so my baby is finally here. We decided to name her Samantha because of the meaning as well as the latter. Which means asked from God.and S for her dad name starts with an S and we are planning to have a flow of an S.

  9. Was praying for twins a boy and girl and came about d name Samuel and samatha! Samuel I asked of the lord; Samantha; God heard me.
    I had two boys and now I have a girl Samantha ie God heard me; God hearkened

  10. My wife & I both thought of Bewitched TV series & wrong liked the name Samantha.

  11. I had a name that was constantly misspelled growing up so I wanted something recognizable and with a single way to spell it. I love the ease of the nickname, the gender neutral nickname and my older daughter sounds so cute saying it!


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