I said "it's not used in Spain", not "it's not used at all in Spain". This means that the name can appear sometimes in registers just as other foreigner names, not that it is never used.
Is possible to find a Samantha/Samanta in Spain? Yes. But this name nowadays is just a foreigner name as: Derie,
Sharon,
Hazel,
Dunstan,
Steven, Safae,
Li,
Eoin,
Siobhan (all names of people who I know and who is born in Spain). "It's used in Spain" implies, for a foreigner name, more use that just a sporadic use, as with Vanessa/Vanesa,
Jonathan, Jessica/Jesica, Jennifer/Jenifer, etc.
And uses and names in American Spanish-speaking countries are very very different from uses and names in Spain.
My post said "in Spain", not "in Spanish".
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.comThis message was edited 9/2/2006, 1:52 PM