Samantha: Difference between revisions
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It remained a rare name until the publication, beginning in 1873, of a series of ten books by [[Marietta Holley]] featuring the adventures of a lady called Samantha, wife of Josiah Allen.<ref name=withycombe/> This led to the rise in its popularity and its increasing 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.<ref>[http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi Social Security Administration]</ref> |
It remained a rare name until the publication, beginning in 1873, of a series of ten books by [[Marietta Holley]] featuring the adventures of a lady called Samantha, wife of Josiah Allen.<ref name=withycombe/> This led to the rise in its popularity and its increasing 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.<ref>[http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi Social Security Administration]</ref> |
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It was out of fashion in the United States for majority 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 once 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.<ref>[http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi ssa.gov]</ref> |
It was out of fashion in the United States for majority 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 once 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.<ref>[http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi ssa.gov]</ref> she also like to give paul lifts home and loves missing the gear stick. |
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==Variants== |
==Variants== |
Revision as of 21:31, 8 November 2011
Gender | Female |
---|---|
Origin | |
Meaning | unknown |
Region of origin | United States |
Other names | |
Related names | Sam, Sammy, Sami, Sammi, Sammie |
Popularity | see popular names |
Samantha is a feminine given name. It was first recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its origin is unknown.[1] Speculation (without evidence) has suggested an origin from the masculine given name Samuel[2] and anthos, the Greek word for "flower".[3] A variant of this speculation is that it may have been a feminine form of Samuel with the addition of the already existing feminine name Anthea.[2]
It remained a rare name until the publication, beginning in 1873, of a series of ten books by Marietta Holley featuring the adventures of a lady called Samantha, wife of Josiah Allen.[1] This led to the rise in its popularity and its increasing 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.[4]
It was out of fashion in the United States for majority 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 once 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.[5] she also like to give paul lifts home and loves missing the gear stick.
Variants
Samantha has 24 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Samantha used in English include Samanthi, Samanthia, Samatha, Samella, and Symantha. Other English forms include the short form Sam, the pet forms Sami, Sammi, Sammie, and Sammy, and the variant spellings Samanta (used in French, and German), Samanthe, and Sammantha.
Notable People
- Samantha Albert, Canadian-born equestrian who represents Jamaica in international competition
- Samantha Armytage, Australian journalist and television news reporter
- Samantha Arsenault, American swimmer and Olympic champion
- Samantha Barks, singer and actress from the Isle of Man
- Samantha Barning, Dutch professional badminton player
- Samantha Béart, British actress
- Samantha Beckinsale, English actress
- Samantha Bee, Canadian actress and comedian
- Samantha Bond, English actress
- Sam Brown (singer), English singer
- Samantha Brown, American television host
- Samantha Browne-Walters, American actress
- Samantha Buck, American actress
- Aunt Samantha Bumgarner, acclaimed country and folk music performer of the early 1900s
- Samantha Cameron, (née Sheffield, born 1971), English business executive and wife of politician David Cameron
- Samantha Casey, American teen beauty queen
- Lan Samantha Chang, American writer of novels and short stories
- Samantha Cole, American dance-pop singer/songwriter
- Samantha Cook, Canadian actress and radio personality
- Samantha Cools, Canadian Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer
- Samantha Cope, American actress
- Samantha Cornish, professional surfer from New South Wales, Australia
- Samantha Davies, British yachtswoman
- Samantha Dodd, British stage and television actress
- Samantha Dorman, American model and actress
- Samantha Dorrance, British actor and dancer
- Samantha Downie, Australian model
- Samantha Droke, American actress
- Samantha Dubois, Dutch radio presenter
- Samantha Eggar, English actress
- Samantha Ferris, Canadian actress and television reporter
- Samantha Fox, or Sam, English former glamour model and dance-pop singer
- Samantha Fox (porn star), American pornographic actress
- Samantha Giles, British actress
- Samantha Gillison, American author
- Sammy Glenn, English actress
- Samantha Hammel, American actress, singer, theatre director, choreographer and record producer
- Samantha Harris, American television presenter
- Sam Healy, Australian actress
- Samantha Heath, British politician
- Samantha Holland, English actress
- Samantha Holvey, American beauty queen
- Samantha Howard Corbin, American television writer and producer
- Samantha Inoue-Harte, anime voice actress
- Samantha Jade, singer-songwriter also known as Samantha Gibbs
- Samantha James, American dance musician
- Samantha Janus (born 1972), English actress and singer
- Samantha Johnson, American actress, filmmaker, and beauty queen
- Samantha Jones (singer), née Jean Owen, English singer and entertainer
- Samantha Judge, field hockey forward from Scotland
- Samantha Juste, née Sandra Slater, the “disc girl” on the 1960s BBC television show Top of the Pops
- Samantha Kerr, Australian association footballer
- Samantha Ketipe, Sri Lankan-born Italian cricketer
- Samantha Lam, Chinese-Canadian equestrian
- Samantha Lane, Australian television personality and sports reporter
- Samantha Larson, American mountain climber
- Samantha Leigh Martin, former child actor from England
- Samantha Lewes, American actress also known as Susan Jane Dillingham and Samantha Dillingham
- Samantha Lewis, former teenage actress
- Samantha Maloney, American musician
- Samantha Mathis, American actress
- Samantha Morton, English actress
- Samantha Mumba, Irish singer and actress
- Samantha Page,a newscaster on Naked News
- Samantha Peszek, American gymnast
- Samantha Reeves, American tennis player
- Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Indian actress
- Samantha Sang, Australian pop singer
- Samantha Schmutte European peace activist
- Samantha Smith, child peace activist and actress who died in a plane crash at age 13
- Samantha Smith (tennis), British tennis player
- Samantha Stosur, Australian tennis player
Fictional people
- Samantha, silent scorer referred to in many episodes of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
- Samantha, a character in Need for Speed Underground
- Samantha Albertson, A character from Now and Then (film) (1995)
- Samantha Anderson, character on the American TV soap opera As the World Turns
- Samantha Best, character on the television show The Best Years
- Samantha Byrd, main character of Goosebumps' book Be Careful of What You Wish For...
- Samantha Carter, character in the television show Stargate SG-1
- Samantha Darko, character in the film Donnie Darko
- Samantha Jones (Sex and the City), character in the television show Sex and the City
- Samantha Keeble, character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders
- Samantha Kelly, or Sam, character on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful
- Samantha Manson, a teenage goth girl from the Nickelodeon cartoon Danny Phantom best friends with Danny Phantom.
- Samantha Micelli, character on the television show Who's the Boss?
- Samantha Mulder, sister to Fox Mulder on the television The X-Files. Samantha was abducted by aliens before the show's start.
- Samantha Parkington, character in the American Girl collection of books and dolls
- Samantha Roth, character in the television show 24
- Samantha Stephens, main character in 1960's sitcom Bewitched played by Elizabeth Montgomery, and credited with the surge in popularity of the name during this time.
- Samantha Fitzgerald, or Sam, recurring character on the Australian soap opera Neighbours
- Samantha "Sam" Puckett, an aggressive and abusive teenager in the Nickelodeon TV show "iCarly" played by Jennette McCurdy.
- Samantha Simpson, or Sam, main character in the television show Totally Spies
- Samantha "Sam", a main character from CBBC show Dani's House
- Samantha "Sam", a main character in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Sam Jones (Doctor Who), or Sam, character in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels
- Sam McCall, or Samantha Alexis McCall, character on the America soap opera General Hospital
- Sam, character in the film Garden State
- Sammy Jo Carrington, character in the American TV series Dynasty
- Sami Brady Hernandez, or Samantha Gene Brady, character on the American soap opera Days of our Lives
- Tracy Samantha Lord, the lead character in the play and films Philadelphia Story and High Society (probably the start of the name's popularity in 1958 in that High Society was made in 1956 starring Grace Kelly in the role and featuring the song "I Love You, Samantha").
References
- ^ a b Withycombe, E. G. (1977). The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names. Oxford University Press.
- ^ a b she also like to give paul lifts home and loves missing the gear stick. "Samantha". Mike Campbell. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
{{cite web}}
: Check|url=
value (help) - ^ World Almanac, 2009 edition pp.697-698, Dr. Cleveland Kent Evans, Bellevue University
- ^ Social Security Administration
- ^ ssa.gov