Samantha is a feminine given name. It originated in the 18th century, perhaps from the masculine given name Samuel[1] and anthos, the Greek word for "flower".[2] It may have been intended to be a feminine form of Samuel with the addition of the already existing feminine name Anthea.[1] "Samuel" is a Hebrew name, and means "heard of" in Aramaic or Hebrew.Having arisen only in the latter part of the 18th century, Samantha is a relatively new name in comparison with Biblical and other names which may be thousands of years old. It was consistently popular in English-speaking countries throughout the 19th century, ranking among the top 1,000 names for girls in the United States from 1880, the earliest year for which records are available, to 1902.[3]
It was out of fashion in the United States for much of the first half of the 20th century, but reappeared among the top 1,000 names for girls in 1958, when it ranked in 998th position, and in 1959, when it ranked in 993rd place. It fell off the top 1,000 list again until 1964, when it reappeared in 472nd place, and leapt another 293 places to 179th place in the ratings in 1965. The name's popularity coincided with the debut in 1964 of the television show Bewitched, which featured as the lead character a young witch named Samantha Stephens. The name has remained consistently popular in the United States since the 1960s. It ranked among the top 200 names for girls since 1965 and among the top 100 names for girls since 1976. It was among the 10 most popular names for girls born in the United States between 1988 and 2006. It ranked as the 15th most popular name for American girls born in 2009
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