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Help[Facts] Re: Samantha
in reply to a message by Kirke
One of the more common etymologies given for Samantha in 20th century baby name books was "Aramaic: Listener." The earliest example of this I can find on short notice is from "Name Your Baby" by Lareina Rule, 1973 edition, original publication 1963. Once something like this is in print it gets copied in other baby name books -- for example "A Treasury of Baby Names" by Alan Benjamin (1983) and "Parents' Book of Baby Names" by Martin Kelly (1985) give the same derivation. I wish I knew who first came up with this idea.
An online English to Aramaic dictionary I have found yields "שָׁמְעָא" (Sham'a) as Aramaic for "listener." It's probable someone looking for an origin for Samantha in a Semitic language (so it could be related to Samuel) found that and wrongly assumed it was the origin of Samantha. Given Retrospectre's research, an alternation of the literary name Semanthe under the influence of Samuel and -antha is more plausible.
An online English to Aramaic dictionary I have found yields "שָׁמְעָא" (Sham'a) as Aramaic for "listener." It's probable someone looking for an origin for Samantha in a Semitic language (so it could be related to Samuel) found that and wrongly assumed it was the origin of Samantha. Given Retrospectre's research, an alternation of the literary name Semanthe under the influence of Samuel and -antha is more plausible.
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