Samantha
Means “listener”*
Girl’s name · Hebrew · /səˈmænθə/
What Samantha means
Means “listener”
Other suggestions include Aramaic ܫܡܥܢܬܐ (šemʿanta, “listener”, noun), from ܫܡܥ.
Source: Wiktionary, “Samantha” (revision 94543222), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.
How popular is Samantha?
▼ 25 vs 2024
▼ 108 vs 2024
▲ 67 vs 2024
US: Falling: down from #40 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #300 in 2015.
Biggest US share so far: 1991, when 25,651 girls got the name (#5 that year). First in the US records in 1880.
How common
- About 1 in 815 baby girls in the US in 2025
- About 1 in 5,389 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
- About 1 in 2,982 baby girls in Scotland in 2025
“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.
Where in the US
Most popular in DC (3.47 per 1,000 girls), DE (2.66 per 1,000 girls), MD (2.55 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.
SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.
US vs UK
Samantha is #151 in the US and #778 in England & Wales (2025).
| Rank 2025 | Babies | How common | Rank 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | #151 | 1,973 | 1 in 815 | #40 |
| England & Wales | #778 | 47 | 1 in 5,389 | #300 |
| Scotland | #474 | 6 | 1 in 2,982 | #416 |
Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).
Boy or girl?
In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Samantha were girls.
| Girls | Boys | |
|---|---|---|
| US 2025 | 1,973 | 0 |
| England & Wales 2025 | 47 | 0 |
| US all years since 1880 | 592,847 | 1,205 |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 12,744 | 0 |
Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.
How to say it
IPA from Wiktionary.
If you like Samantha
Girls
- Rebekah#884“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”*
- Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…*
- Michelle#465Feminine form of Michel, meaning “who is like God?”*
- Sarah#90“masters, princes”*
- Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”*
- Jordan#584Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #262 in 2015, #584 in 2025
For a brother
- Jonathan#89“God has given”*
- Joshua#66“to save”*
- Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”*
- Daniel#22“God is my judge”*
- Joseph#29“(God) shall add”*
- Mathew#973Variant of Matthew, meaning “gift of the Lord”*
Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Samantha’s. Rank is US 2025.
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