Sims

#11,790 in 2025Boys' name

Hearkening, through Simon

Sims has been given to 317 babies in the U.S. since 1900. In 2025 it ranked #11,790 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1919, with 18 recorded.

Babies named Sims, 2025

1 in 553,000

Sims over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Sims: meaning, origin, and history

Hearkening, through Simon

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Sims means

Sims belongs to the name family reached through Sims → Simon. Its meaning is “hearkening”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Sim, the short form of Simon + -s.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Sims (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Sims is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Simon.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Sims is pronounced /sɪmz/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 312 boys were recorded with the name Sims between 1900 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 18 in 1919; its best national rank was #1,285 in 1900.

In the United States, 5 girls were recorded with the name Sims between 2021 and 2021. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2021; its best national rank was #17,353 in 2021.

How common is Sims?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 553,000; 6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 285,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #11,790; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 382,984 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Sims sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sims. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Simss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sims was born before 1933 — so the typical Sims is around 92 today.

Median birth year: 1933; About 92 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 20.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 12.5%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 94; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 20.8% of all recorded uses (65).

Is Sims rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 33.3%; Peak was 1919 (18)
Years since peak: 106; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 24.8% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,285; 1900

Spellings of Sims

Sims is not the most common spelling — Jim is, with 26.8% against Sims's 0.05%.

Jim26.8%153,122
Sam22.3%127,234
Tim14.6%83,358
Silas13.2%75,465
Simon12.3%70,283
Kim6.1%34,951
Sami0.93%5,303
Nils0.54%3,083

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Sims is used

Across 1910–2025, Sims was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,641,411 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Alabama1 in —
2Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Sims has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Sims by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #11,790
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: New entry
Best rank ever: #1,285; 1900
Peak year: 1919; 18 that year
First recorded: 1900
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 312
Count in 2025: 6

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #17,353; 2021
Peak year: 2021; 5 that year
First recorded: 2021
Last recorded: 2021
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Sims

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Simba Simuel Simir Simone Simcha Simran Simar Sim Simmie Simpson Simao Mims Simeon Simere Simmon Simion Simi Sime Simms Simon Simmons Simmeon Simote Simione

Sibling names for Sims

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Vina Garnet Albina Idella Adell Mozelle Iola Beryl

For a brother

Granville Dewitt Lyman Waldo Barney Kermit Regis Vern

Explore around Sims

Top names of 1919, Sims's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1900 Boys' names starting with S