Meaning and history
Samara is possibly derived from the name of the city of Samarra in Iraq or from Samara in Russia. The former is reflected in the title of John O'Hara’s 1934 novel Appointment in Samarra, which alludes to an ancient Babylonian legend about a man trying to evade death. Alternatively, the name may come from the word for the winged seeds of trees such as maples and elms. It gained popularity after being used for the antagonist in the 2002 horror film The Ring.
20062006: 948 births, rank #349
2007: 707 births, rank #456
2008: 629 births, rank #500
2009: 594 births, rank #509
2010: 488 births, rank #600
20112011: 525 births, rank #557
2012: 516 births, rank #568
2013: 493 births, rank #583
2014: 452 births, rank #633
2015: 452 births, rank #633
20162016: 670 births, rank #474
2017: 1,009 births, rank #324
2018: 1,270 births, rank #256
2019: 978 births, rank #328
2020: 886 births, rank #351
20212021: 834 births, rank #374
2022: 1,068 births, rank #299
2023: 1,196 births, rank #259
2024: 998 births, rank #309
20252025: 957 births, rank #320
Samara moved from #309 to #320 for girls between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2018, with 1,270 births.