Samantha (Aramaic, "hearing God", derived from a feminine form of "Samuel") has become a popular woman's name, with a generic Biblical air. According to
U.S. Social Security Administration records,
Samantha was one of the ten most popular names for women in the United States between
1990 and
2003. Famous Samanthas, aside from
Samantha Eggar, the actress who popularized the name, include many fictional characters:
- Samantha in Xena: Warrior Princess
- Samantha the score-keeper in I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue, a long-running Radio Four comedy series.
- Samantha in Bewitched
- Samantha, a puppet character in the shape of a cat in Peter Jackson's movie Meet the Feebles
- Samantha Carter of the TV show Stargate SG-1
- Samantha "Sam" Jane, a casino host in Las Vegas, played by Vanessa Marcil
- Samantha Harrop, the daughter in Me and My Girl
- Samantha Jones a character in Sex and the City
- Samantha Mulder of the TV show X-files
- DS Samantha Nixon in The Bill
- Nurse Samantha Taggart on the TV show ER, played by Linda Cardellini
- Samantha Wildman of the TV show Star Trek: Voyager
- Samantha "Sam" Spade, a main character on the TV show Without a Trace, played by Poppy Montgomery
- Samantha Fox, 1980s pop singer
