Simon

About Simon

Simon usually belongs to the Hebrew name family meaning hearing or listening. An independent ancient Greek Simon means flat-nosed, so the same spelling has two distinct origins. The biblical name became especially familiar through Simon Peter, while economist Simon Kuznets supplies a modern connection with the study of economic growth.

Two histories behind one spelling

Biblical Simon comes from Greek Simon, a form of Hebrew Shim'on. Its root means to hear or listen. Simeon, familiar from the Old Testament, represents another Greek form of the same Hebrew name.

The independent Greek name comes instead from simos, flat-nosed. In Greek mythology, a Simon appears among the Telchines, the legendary early inhabitants of Rhodes. This older Greek name may have influenced the spelling used for the Hebrew name in the New Testament, but the two meanings remain separate.

The biblical family has many international forms: Shimon in Hebrew, Szymon in Polish, Simón in Spanish, and Simão in Portuguese. French Simone and several languages' Simona are related feminine forms.

Simon Peter

Simon is the apostle's original name in the New Testament. In Matthew 16 he answers Jesus's question about his identity, and Jesus addresses him as Peter, a name connected with the Greek word for rock.

The pairing Simon Peter preserves both names together. It makes Simon particularly recognizable in Christian history, where the apostle's prominence helped carry the name into wider use.

English Simon is SY-mun, with two syllables and first-syllable stress. French uses a different rhythm and final nasal vowel, approximately see-MOHN. The written form travels readily between languages even where its sound changes considerably.

Simon Kuznets and the measurement of growth

Simon Kuznets received the 1971 economics prize for his empirical interpretation of economic growth. His work stood at the meeting point of economics and history, using evidence about actual economies to examine how growth develops.

He also contributed to the development of national accounting, the systems used to organize information about an economy's production and income. Such measures made it possible to compare changes over time rather than treating growth only as an abstract idea.

His prize lecture discussed characteristics including increases in output per person and population, while recognizing problems that remained difficult to measure. That combination of large historical questions and careful attention to evidence gives Simon an association with a specific kind of economic inquiry.

American popularity

Simon's strongest United States boys' ranking was #142 in 1886, while its largest annual count came in 2015, with 1,645 boys. Those different peaks reflect changes in the size of the birth population and the distribution of names.

In 2025 it ranked #230 with 1,529 boys, compared with 1,253 in 2000. Its American record shows continued substantial use rather than a name concentrated in only one brief modern fashion.

How popular is Simon?

In 2025, Simon ranked #230 among boys in the United States, with 1,529 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1880; its largest annual count was 1,645 in 2015. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.