The word Samba, in Portuguese, was derived from semba, a word common to many West African bantu languages. To the African slaves brought to Brazil during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the word had a variety of meanings. It meant to pray, or invoke the spirits of the ancestors, or the Gods of African pantheon.

In Brazil, Samba is a woman with the same function of an Ekedi Nagô o in the banto's temples: A sacred dancer, Iaô, the saint's daughter. In Brazil also, the African slaves called samba a religious ceremony characterized by the rhythm and choreography of the batuque (Batuque: the act of "batucar"; to make some kind of rhythm using any kind of instrument or object.

The Jongo, a variant of the Samba, until today is considered a religious dance. The first known appearance of the word Samba as a Portuguese word meaning a rhythm and a dance in print appeared in 1838, in the newspaper "O Carapuceiro", in an article written by father Lopes Gama.

In 1916, Ernesto dos Santos "Donga", recorded his song "Pelo Telefone", and labeled as Samba. This is officially the first Samba recording. Since then, the musicians descendants of slaves started to see the Samba as a new approach to the batuque from Angola, and determined themselves to integrate it to the wider society trough organizations they called Samba Schools.

To Brazilians, especially "cariocas" (people born in Rio), their great "sambistas" with their love and dedication, the magnificent Samba Schools, and to general people that gather to play, sing and dance the Samba, the culture will never die, and will continuously grow strong developing new approaches and evolving forever.