Name of the Week

 ^.

Sturdy, saintly Simon is a solid classic that is little used
enough to make it a striking choice.

 

Origin:

Simon is an Ancent Greek name derived from simos "snub-nosed." It has long, however, been associated, confused and conflated with the Hebrew Simeon meaning "he has heard." Simon is the form used to render Simeon in the New Testament. It could simply be a Latinised (via a Hellenised) form of Simeon, also spelt Shim'on, or was influenced and replaced by the earlier form of the name.

Usage:

The name Simos is well attested in Ancient Greece; its variant Simon was less common but not without precedence. Simon the Shoemaker, for example, was an associate of Socrates in the late 5th century BCE.  Once Simon became used to render Simeon, examples of it litter the Jewish and early Christian world.  Simon was brought over to Britain by the Normans and quickly established itself with good popularity. The main reason for its frequency was thanks not only to Saint Simon the Zealot (though little is known of him), but more importantly, Saint Peter, whose original name was Simon, and was often referred to as Simon Peter.  In a study of 1000 names from 10 counties from 1377-81, Redmonds calculates that Simon held a rank of #13, which he characterises as 'quite popular'.  It was commonly written as Symound or Simond, with diminutives Sim, Simcock, Simkin, Simonet and Simonel. The popularity of Simon is attested by the plethora of surnames which derive from it including Simon(s), Symon(s), Sim(s), Sym(s), Simes, Syme, Simpson, Simonson, Simison, Simcock, Simcox, Simkin(s), Simkinson, Simmonds, Semmence, Semken and Simkiss.  During the Elizabethan era, Simon was the 19th most frequently used name in the county of Norfolk and Smith Bannister's popularity rankings show that, though Simon lost some ground in the 17th century, it still remained in quite constant use: 1538-49: #24; 1550-9: —; 1560-9: #14; 1570-9: #21; 1580-9: #19; 1590-9: #29; 1600-9: #29; 1610-9: #27; 1620-9: #34; 1630-9: —; 1640-9: #37; 1650-9: #32; 1660-9: —; 1670-9: —; 1680-9: #35; 1690-1700: #34.  This usage remained steady right up to the 19th century. Dunkling ranks Simon at #33 in 1700 in England and Wales, and #35 in 1800. By 1850, however, it had fallen below the top 50 and by 1870 was below the Top 100 at #117. It fell to #141 in 1880, #137 in 1890 and #146 in 1900.  In the early 20th century, feminine forms such as the French Simone and Italian Simona or Simonetta came into use. Simone saw some popularity in Britain in the late 20th century, peaking in the 1980s.  Simon stayed just below the Top 100 until the mid-20th century when it saw a meteoric revival, peaking in the 1970s. It first re-entered the Top 100 in 1954 when it shotup to #57. By 1964 it was #13 and reached its peak in 1974 at #8. It was still popular in 1984 when it ranked #21 but by 1994 had fallen to #75. It left the Top 100 in 1996, ranking #87. The name declined in use steadily from 1997 to 2003, and has since remained between the 200-300 mark. In 2012, Simon ranked #274 with 170 births in England and Wales.  In Scotland, Simon was longer standing in the 19th century, ranking #93 in 1900. It had fallen below the Top 100 by 1950, but was back up to #40 in 1975.  Since 2005, Simon has fluctuated between 4 and 17 births each year. In 2013, Simon ranked #280 with 14 births in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

History:  * Eight Biblical characters were named Simon:    - Simon, the original name of Saint Peter.    - Saint Simon, one of the Twelve Apostles.    - Simon of Cyrene.    - Simon Magnus.    - A brother of Jesus.    - Simon the Pharisee in whose house Jesus was entertained    - The father of Judas Iscariot.    - A tanner of Joppa with whom Peter stayed. * Simon Bar Kokba (d. 135), Hebrew hero and leader of a major revolt against Rome under Hadrian. * Simon of Bet-Titta (d. 447), Christian martyr. * Simon of Worcester (d. 1150), English Bishop of Worcester. * Simon de Montfort (c. 1208–1265), earl of Leicester leader of the baronial revolt against Henry III of England. * Simon Sudbury (d. 1381) English Archbishop and Lord Chancellor. * Simon Paulli (1603–1680), Danish physician and botanist. Contemporary: * Simon Callow (b. 1949), British actor. * Sir Simon Rattle (b. 1955), British conductor.  * Simon Cowell (b.1959), British TV personality, producer and entrepreneur.  * Simon Pegg (b. 1970), British writer and actor. * Simon Amstell (b. 1979), British television presenter. Literacy and Other Media: * Simon Catling, a musician in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. * Simon, character in Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. * Simon, one of the characters in Alvin and the Chipmunks. Other: * Simon, a 1950s personal computer

Variants:

Ximun (Basque), Šimun(Croatian), Šimon (Czech), Siemen (Dutch), Simo (Finnish, Serbian), Shimon (Hebrew), Simone (Italian), Simonas (Lithuanian), Simen (Norwegian), Szymon (Polish), Simão (Portuguese), Semen (Russian), Šimon (Slovak), Simón, Jimeno (Spanish), Semen, Symon (Ukrainian), Shimmel (Yiddish)

Pronunciation:

SĪ-mən [key]

Possible diminutives:

Si, Sim

Sibling Names:

Bridget     Rebecca     Katherine     Helen     Rachel     Sarah  Richard     Michael     Christopher     David     Stephen     Robert

Name Lists:

Popular Biblical   Medieval Favourites   Terrifically Tudor   Gorgeously Georgian   Ancient Place Names   Shakespearean Names   Dickensian Names   Names from Tennyson

 

If you like Simon you may also like:   Silas, Peter, Tobias, Matthias, Anthony, Simeon, Josiah, Micah, Andrew, Philip

 

Thanks to Raya for requesting this post.