I've written about the possible origin of the name
Samantha, expanding on what
Cleveland Evans wrote in a comment about the connection to Semanthe from
John Suckling's play Aglaura.
https://www.name-pop.com/2024/12/the-meaning-of-name-samantha.html
All it really needs now is an example of a woman born in the 1700s named
Samantha who could have been named after a
Samuel to support the change from Semantha to
Samantha.