Girls' name · peaked in 1991
Samantha name popularity since 1925
593,284 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Samantha. Half of them were born in 1995 or earlier, so the typical Samantha is about 31 years old in 2026. Samantha peaked in 1991 as the #5 name for girls, and it ranked #151 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 593,284
- Named Samantha, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #151
- for girls in 2025 (1,973 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 592,079 girls · 1,205 boys
- Most popular in
- Nevada
- 1.89× its national share
Peak year is the year Samantha made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Samantha births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1990. Measured as a share of all babies, Samantha peaked in 1991.
- Fastest rise: Between 1964 and 1969, Samantha became 6.6× more common, from 1 in 4,570 baby girls to 1 in 697.
- Steepest fall: Between 2016 and 2021, its share of baby girls fell by 43%, from 1 in 358 to 1 in 631.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Samantha's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Samantha.
Decade by decade
Babies named Samantha in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 67 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 175 | 0 | #1,655 |
| 1940s | 292 | 0 | #1,476 |
| 1950s | 486 | 0 | #2,095 |
| 1960s | 11,027 | 24 | #179 |
| 1970s | 28,906 | 121 | #101 |
| 1980s | 121,124 | 454 | #29 |
| 1990s | 224,023 | 361 | #4 |
| 2000s | 134,313 | 184 | #8 |
| 2010s | 56,929 | 61 | #40 |
| 2020–25 | 14,737 | 0 | #151 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
47.5% of babies named Samantha from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Samantha is most popular
The index compares Samantha's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Samantha.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 1.89× | 4,033 |
| New Hampshire | 1.67× | 3,140 |
| Alaska | 1.61× | 1,432 |
| Arizona | 1.45× | 11,271 |
| Delaware | 1.40× | 1,743 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Samantha and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Samantha (this page) | 592,079 | 1991 |
| Sammantha | 1,985 | 1991 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Samantha's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Samantha.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Samantha (1991).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data