Samira (سميرة) is the feminine of Samir — from the Arabic samar ("evening conversation, storytelling under the moon") — the companion who entertains with stories in the evening. One of the most-popular Arabic-origin girls' names worldwide. Samira Wiley (born 1987) — *American actress; played Poussey Washington on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black (2013-2016) — the Screen Actors Guild Award-winning Best Ensemble; played Moira on Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale (2017-2025) for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (2018). Samira Said (born 1959) — Moroccan singer; one of the most-celebrated Arabic-language pop singers of the 1980s-2010s. Samira Ahmed (born 1968) — British journalist; Newswatch* (BBC); won a landmark equal-pay tribunal case against the BBC in 2020. Samira Bawumia — Second Lady of Ghana since 2017. Samira Makhmalbaf (born 1980) — Iranian filmmaker; the youngest director ever in competition at the Cannes Film Festival (1998, age 17). The name appears across the entire Muslim world from Morocco to Indonesia.
Featured throughout Arabic culture and global media.
Samira reduces to six — the number of evening tales.