Samantha is a female given name of Greek origin that means "listener" or "one who hears well". The name Samantha comes from the Greek word "sophrosyne", which signifies wisdom and moderation.
The use of the name Samantha became popular in the United States during the late 20th century. It was introduced to American audiences through the character Samantha Stephens, played by Elizabeth Montgomery on the popular TV sitcom "Bewitched" (1964-1972). Since then, it has been a popular choice for parents naming their daughters.
Throughout history, there have been several notable people named Samantha, including Samantha Power, a former US Ambassador to the United Nations and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Samantha Fox, a British singer and model who gained fame in the late 1980s.
The name Samantha has had a fascinating journey in popularity over the years in the United States. Between 1964 and 2018, there were a total of 4203 babies named Samantha.
In the early years, Samantha was quite rare. Only nine girls were named Samantha in 1964. However, it started to gain traction in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the number of births reaching over fifty annually from 1968 onwards.
The name really took off in the mid-1980s. In 1985, there were 154 babies named Samantha, more than doubling to 304 in just two years by 1987. The peak of Samantha's popularity was reached in 1988 with a staggering 222 births, indicating that it was a highly favored name at the time.
However, like many names, Samantha's popularity began to decline after its peak. By 1994, the number of babies named Samantha had dropped by half compared to its peak year, with only 120 births recorded.
This trend continued into the new millennium, with fewer than fifty girls named Samantha annually between 2005 and 2018. The most recent data from 2018 shows that there were just five babies named Samantha in the United States.
Despite its decline in popularity in recent years, Samantha remains a classic name with a rich history in the U.S., having been given to thousands of girls over the past five decades.