HebrewGreek2 syllables
Meaning: he has heard; God has heard.
Simon
| Origin | Hebrew by way of Greek — Shim’on, written Simōn by Greek speakers |
|---|---|
| Meaning | “He has heard”, from the verb shama, to hear — understood as God having heard a prayer |
| Pronunciation | SY-mun in English; SEE-mon in French and German; shee-MOHN in Hebrew |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100, and distinctly commoner in France, Germany and Scandinavia than in America |
| Variants | Simone (Italian), Simão (Portuguese), Semyon (Russian), Szymon (Polish), Simeon, Ximun (Basque) |
| Nicknames | Si, Sim |
| Two names, one spelling | Greek already had its own Simōn, from simos, snub-nosed |
History & meaning
This is a genuine tangle, and worth getting right. The Hebrew name is Shim’on — Simeon in the Old Testament, the second son of Jacob — from a root meaning to hear. Jewish speakers in the Greek-speaking world rendered it Simōn, partly because it sounded close and partly because Greek already had a native name spelled exactly that way, from simos, snub-nosed, attested long before the New Testament. Two unrelated names merged on the page, and no amount of scholarship can fully unpick them.
The New Testament is then full of Simons: Simon the Zealot, Simon of Cyrene, Simon Magus, and above all the fisherman Shim’on whom Jesus renamed Kephas, the rock, which Greek turned into Petros and English into Peter. Every European language kept a form. Watch the Italian one: Simone is a man’s name in Italy and a woman’s name almost everywhere else, which catches people out constantly.
Why parents choose it
It is quiet in a way that very few classic names manage. No nickname pressure, no swagger, no spelling debate, and an unbroken record of use in English going back eight centuries. It reads as thoughtful rather than grand. For families with roots in more than one European country it has the additional advantage of already existing on both sides, needing only a change of stress to sound native.
Middle names for Simon
Two even syllables take a longer partner well: Simon Andrew, Simon Elias, Simon Frederick, Simon Rafael. There is a fuller method in the middle names guide.
Famous Simons
Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for sixteen years. Simon Wiesenthal spent half a century tracing Nazi war criminals after surviving the camps himself. Simon Pegg wrote and starred in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Simon Schama has written and presented history for the BBC since the 1990s.
Consider instead
Peter is the other half of the same fisherman, and sturdier. Silas gives you a New Testament S name with more texture. Samuel shares the hearing-and-answering theme and offers Sam. Browse the rest of the S names.