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The first name 
Samantha

Samantha is a first name typically given to girls, but in rare cases also used as a boys name.

The name Samantha is very popular!

The first name Samantha is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #44 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Samantha, accounting for approximately 0.30 % of all newborn girls. In total, there are currently 583,047 people – children, adults and seniors – named Samantha living in the United States, which is approximately 0.17 % of the entire population.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Samantha

What does the name 
Samantha mean?

The exact meaning and origin of the name Samantha is unclear. An Aramaic origin is possible, because in Syriac ‘šemʿanta’ means ‘listener’ or ‘obeyer’. Some see a connection from the male first name Samuel, which means, among other things, ‘God is exalted,’ and the Greek term ‘ánthos’ for ‘blossom, flower.’

By the way… in Sri Lanka, the name Samantha also exists. However, it is used as a male first name and is one of the forms of the name of the god Saman. There is no known connection to the female name Samantha.

Quite a few famous people are called Samantha

An 80s singer

Samantha Fox (*1966)
Samantha Fox is a British singer and model who became famous in the 1980s. Her career began at the age of 16 as a pageant contestant. She had several hits, including 'Touch Me (I Want Your Body)' (1986) and 'I Wanna Have Some Fun' (1988). She was also on the cover of the English edition of Playboy. Additionally, Fox had several other top 40 hits in the UK and worked with producers such as Full Force and Stock Aitken Waterman. She also made appearances in movies and on TV shows.

An Irish actress

Samantha Mumba (*1983)
Samantha Mumba is an Irish singer and actress who rose to fame in the early 2000s. She shot to fame in 2000 with her debut single 'Gotta Tell You', which was a top 5 hit in the UK and Ireland. Her debut album 'Gotta Tell You' was also successful, selling over 1 million copies worldwide. Samantha also had some small roles in movies and TV shows like 'The Time Machine' (2002). Her career took a break in the late 2000s, but she has returned to music and film in recent years.

An astronaut and aviator

Samantha Christoforetti (*1977)
Samantha Cristoforetti is an Italian astronaut and military aviator. She was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009 and was part of the ESA astronaut cohort. In November 2014, she launched on her first mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and spent 199 days in space, setting a European record for the longest single space mission. Cristoforetti studied aerospace engineering and completed several missions in the Italian Air Force. She is also an experienced pilot and has flown several types of aircraft.

A peace activist

Samantha Smith (1972 - 1985)
Samantha Smith was an American peace activist and writer. She came to prominence as a child in 1981 when she wrote a letter to the then General Secretary of the CPDSU, Yuri Andropov, asking him to inform her of the Soviet Union's intentions. Andropov responded by inviting her and her family to visit the Soviet Union. The visit led to improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Samantha died in a plane crash in 1985 at the age of 13.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Samantha, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Samantha? Are you also called Samantha? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

A community

In the U.S. state of Ohio you can find an unincorporated community that bears the name Samantha, named after the first local girl whom the founders encountered.

Another community

Samantha is also an unincorporated community in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Samantha was named in honor of the wife of the first postmaster.

(3147) Samantha...

is an asteroid about ten kilometers in size in the middle main belt, named after the American student and peace activist Samantha Smith (1972-1985).

Samantha -
Samantha has arrived in the 21st century

History tends to focus on the most famous and best. But even those who play second fiddle leave their mark: Samantha is one of those names without which the orchestra would be incomplete. In fact, Samantha has reached the SmartGenius top ranking #4 more than once, although the last time was some while ago, towards the end of the past century in 1998. But even though the peak of its popularity was a few decades ago, the name Samantha has been given to newborn girls every year since records began. Samantha is of exceptional enduring popularity, conveying the special vibes of the 80s and 90s of the 20th century.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Samantha was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

The peak of popularity of the name Samantha is already some time ago, but the name has nevertheless arrived in the 21st century. In 2022 it ranked at #105 in our statistics - maybe a far cry from the time when your grandparents and parents were much younger and Samantha made it into the top ten more than once, but: traditional names often turn out to be parennial favorites – so, perhaps it's only a matter of time before Samantha reaches a new high.

Samantha -
especially popular in Nevada

Samantha is one of the most common names in the U.S. – in all states combined, 582,815 women would currently turn around if you called out SAMANTHA really loud. Across all states and age groups, this lands Samantha on position 45 in our SmartGenius ranking of the top female names – of course, the current popularity as a baby name for newborns looks somewhat different, as you can see from the statistics above. With so many women named Samantha, it’s no surprise that the name is widely used in every single state in the U.S., but would you have guessed that it’s especially popular in Nevada? Here, 0,887% of all female residents bear the name Samantha – that is a total of 3,961 women with this popular name and no other state has as many women named Samantha relative to its population. But that’s not all the popularity: in Nevada Samantha belongs to the top 10 of all womens names – the 3,961 elevate their name up to place #6 in the SmartGenius ranking of the most common female names for Nevada.

Samantha has 8 letters 
and begins with an S

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter S is a very popular first letter for girls' names. That’s because 9.3% of all common girls’ names in the US begin with this letter. Only the first letter A is more common for girls' names.

With eight letters, the name Samantha is long compared to other names. In fact, 14.5% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly eight letters. 78% of all first names are shorter, while only 8% of all boys’ and girls’ names use nine letters or even more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long with no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that if 9.3% of all girls' names start with an S, this initial letter occurs nearly three times as often as all other letters on average. And by the way: Of all the girls' names that start with an S, Susan is the most common.

Other names with 
S, a, m, a, n, t, h and a

If you take all the letters in the name Samantha – S, a, m, a, n, t, h and a – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Samantah or others.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Samantha

If your name is Samantha and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Samantha

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Samantha, you can simply say:

Sun

Apple

Mouse

Apple

Nut

Tiger

Hat

Apple

This is how the name Samantha is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Samantha in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Samantha

Samantha

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Samantha

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Samantha is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

S
A
M
A
N
T
H
A

Have you ever waved the name Samantha

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

S
A
M
A
N
T
H
A

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Samantha sounds like this: