US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025
Samantha: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Samantha for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Samantha was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 19 years, between 1988 and 2006, reaching #3. Births peaked in 1990, when 25,868 baby girls were named Samantha, so by peak year it is a Millennials name.
Samantha in the US top 10, by year
Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Samantha (1990).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Millennials | 9 (1988–1996) | #4 |
| Generation Z | 10 (1997–2006) | #3 |
Questions people ask
When was the name Samantha most popular?
By number of babies, in 1990, when 25,868 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #3 and spent 19 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Samantha?
Its peak year, 1990, falls in Millennials (1981–1996). Its 19 top-10 years fall in: Millennials (9), Generation Z (10).
How many people have been named Samantha?
SSA counted 592,847 girls named Samantha born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Samantha are alive today.