indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Meaning & History
In the case of American actress Samaire Armstrong (1980-) it is most likely an invented name, though she has claimed it means "dawning sun" in Gaelic: 'My first name is Gaelic and means "dawning sun". It's pronounced Sah-mee-rah. My dad read 'Conan the Barbarian' when my mom was pregnant with me. That's where he got my name.' It may have been inspired by the Irish river name Samair, Samhair, about which Adolphe Pictet (1799-1875) wrote: '...in the colloquial Irish of the people the old name Samhair was corrupted to Camhair; and as this word signifies the first appearance of daylight or the break of day, so they translated it into "Morning Star"'; or it may have been influenced by the fictional place name Cimmeria, the homeland of Conan the Barbarian in the works of Robert E. Howard.