Samantha

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Samantha
Gender Female
Meaning a good listener or a listener of God
Region of Origin United States[1]
Popularity Popular names page
Wikipedia articles All pages beginning with "Samantha"

Samantha is a female given name. It may have been intended to be a female form of Samuel with the addition of the female name Anthea.[2] It originated in the American colonial era in the 18th century, believed to be from the masculine given name Samuel[2] and anthos, the Greek word for "flower".[1]

"Same" is a Hebrew name, and means "heard of" in Aramaic or Hebrew. "Samuel" means "heard of" 'same' + the name for God, 'El'. It comes from the story of a barren woman asking God for a son.

Samantha, to Sam, is a relatively new name arising in the latter part of the 18th century. It has been a consistently popular name in English-speaking countries in the 20th and 21st centuries. It was ranked as the 12th most popular name for girls born in the United States in 2007 and had been among the top 10 most popular names for girls there between 1988 and 2006. It has been ranked among the top 100 names for American girls since 1976 and among the top 200 names for American girls since 1965. It debuted among the top 1,000 names for American girls in 474th place in 1964. It had ranked among the top 1,000 names for girls in the United States between 1880, the earliest year for which records are available, and 1902. [3] Its popularity in the United States is generally attributed to the popularity of the character Samantha Stephens, the lead character on the 1960s television series Bewitched.

[edit] People

[edit] Fictional people

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b World Almanac, 2009 edition pp.697-698, Dr. Cleveland Kent Evans, Bellevue University.
  2. ^ a b "SAMANTHA". Mike Campbell. http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=samantha. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 
  3. ^ Social Security Administration
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