Samantha is a female given name of American origin. It was popularized in the late 19th century by the novel "Samantha at Saratoga" written by Marie Belloc Lowndes. The name Samantha means "listener to God" and is derived from the Hebrew language.
In the Bible, Samantha is mentioned as a woman who was a prophetess. She was known for her ability to hear and interpret the word of God. This is where the name's meaning originates from. Despite its biblical origins, Samantha has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its modern sound and association with the character Samantha Stephens from the television show "Bewitched."
The name Samantha has been used by several notable figures throughout history, including Samantha Power, a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and Samantha Ronson, a British-American DJ. Despite its popularity, Samantha remains a strong and unique name that carries a deep spiritual meaning.
It appears that the name Samantha gained significant popularity from around the late 1950s to the mid-1990s, reaching a peak of over 24,000 births in 1989. However, its usage has been declining since then, with only around 2,363 births recorded in 2023. Overall, there have been a total of 588,597 births named Samantha from 1880 to 2023.