Samara is a name with several roots: in Arabic it is linked to samar, "evening conversation", and in Hebrew it is read as a form of Shemariah, "protected by God". It is also a city on the Volga and the botanical word for the winged seed of a maple. Samara has been in the US top 1000 throughout this century, climbed from number 889 in 2000 to a peak of 256 in 2018 and ranks 320th in 2025.