Samanatha
A feminine name of English origin meaning "listener" or "heard by God".
Name Census estimates that about 569 living Americans carry the first name Samanatha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Samanatha today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samanatha births was 1987 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samanatha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
569
~ 1 in 602,380 Americans
Peak year
1987
34 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2009 SSA rank
#14,951
Tracked since 1965
Census
Samanatha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 743 people with the first name Samanatha, which placed it at #15,463 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,463
National first-name rank
People counted
743
743 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samanatha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samanatha is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.0%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Samanatha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Samanatha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.4% · 516
- Hispanic or Latino18.0% · 134
- Two or more races5.2% · 39
- Black or African American4.7% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 5
Popularity
Samanatha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samanatha from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 218 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Samanatha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Samanatha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Samanatha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samanathas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Samanatha
The name Samanatha has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India. It is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit words "sama" meaning "equal" or "balanced" and "natha" meaning "lord" or "master." The name can be interpreted as "one who is the lord of balance" or "the balanced one."
In Hindu mythology, Samanatha is associated with the divine feminine energy known as Shakti. It is thought to represent the embodiment of balance, harmony, and equilibrium. The name is also linked to the concept of yogic practices and the attainment of inner peace and enlightenment.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Samanatha can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Upanishads and the Puranas. These texts date back to several centuries BCE and are considered sacred texts in Hinduism.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Samanatha. One of the earliest known was Samanatha Mishra (c. 850-925 CE), a renowned Indian philosopher and logician who made significant contributions to the Nyaya school of Indian philosophy.
Another famous Samanatha was Samanatha Dikshita (c. 1499-1568 CE), a highly influential Hindu scholar and philosopher from South India. He is credited with reviving and propagating the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hindu philosophy.
In the field of literature, Samanatha Devi (1892-1972) was a celebrated Bengali author and poet. She is considered one of the pioneers of modern Bengali literature and was awarded the prestigious Jnanpith Award in 1976 for her literary works.
Samanatha Mukherjee (1923-2003) was an eminent Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She played a significant role in reviving and popularizing the Odissi dance form, one of the eight classical dance styles of India.
More recently, Samanatha Power (born 1970) is an American actress and producer known for her roles in films such as "Guarding Tess," "Nowhere to Run," and "The Confidant."
While there have been many influential individuals throughout history who have carried the name Samanatha, its origins can be traced back to the ancient Sanskrit language and Hindu philosophy, representing balance, harmony, and the divine feminine energy.
People
Samanatha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samanatha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Samanatha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samanatha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 569 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samanatha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 602,380 US residents.
Is Samanatha a common name?
We classify Samanatha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 601 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samanatha most popular?
The single biggest year for Samanatha was 1987, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samanatha is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samanatha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 743 people with the name Samanatha, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,463 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Samanatha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Samanatha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Samanatha appears almost entirely female. Of the 740 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Samanatha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samanatha is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.0%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Samanatha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Samanatha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (516 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Samanatha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samanatha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samanatha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Samanatha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samanatha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Samanatha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Samanatha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.