Semon
A variant of Simon, from the Hebrew "Shim'on" meaning "He has heard".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Semon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Semon today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Semon births was 1922 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Semon. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Semon. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1922
7 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1926 SSA rank
#4,738
Tracked since 1922
Census
Semon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 181 people with the first name Semon, which placed it at #40,888 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#40,888
National first-name rank
People counted
181
181 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
35.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Semon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Semon is White at 35.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Semon described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Semon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White35.4% · 64
- Black or African American31.5% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.9% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino10.5% · 19
- Two or more races6.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Semon
Semon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 17 total registrations, 12 (70.6%) were male and 5 (29.4%) were female.
Semon as a male name
- Ranked #4,738 in 1926
- 5 male births in 1926
- Peak: 1922 (7 births)
Semon as a female name
- Ranked #11,773 in 1981
- 5 female births in 1981
- Peak: 1981 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Semon on both sides of the split. Of the 179 people counted with this name, 121 were male (67.6%) and 58 were female (32.4%).
Popularity
Semon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Semon from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Semon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Semon by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Semon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Semon
The name Semon has its origins in ancient Hebrew, derived from the word "shemen," which means "oil" or "ointment." It is believed to have emerged during the biblical era, around the first millennium BC, in the region of ancient Israel and the Levant.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Semon can be found in the Book of Exodus, where it refers to one of the sons of Hamath, a descendant of Canaan. The name is also mentioned in other ancient Hebrew texts, such as the Talmud and Midrashic literature.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Semon. One of the earliest was Semon ben Yohai, a prominent Jewish rabbi and scholar who lived during the 2nd century AD in ancient Judea. He is renowned for his contributions to the study of the Mishnah and the development of Jewish mysticism.
In the Middle Ages, Semon of Trier was a notable Jewish scholar and physician who lived in Germany during the 12th century. He was known for his expertise in medicine and his contributions to the study of Jewish law and philosophy.
During the Renaissance period, Semon Luzzatto was an Italian Jewish scholar and poet who lived in the 16th century. He was renowned for his Hebrew poetry and his work on Jewish ethics and philosophy.
In the 19th century, Semon Hirsch was a German rabbi and scholar who played a significant role in the development of the Jewish Enlightenment movement. He advocated for the integration of traditional Jewish values with modern secular education.
Another notable figure was Semon Simonov, a Russian playwright and dramatist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was renowned for his plays that explored social issues and critiqued the Russian aristocracy.
While the name Semon has its roots in ancient Hebrew, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and languages over the centuries, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its connection to the concept of "oil" or "ointment" has remained a consistent thread throughout its historical journey.
People
Semon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Semon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Semon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Semon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Semon going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Semon a common name?
We classify Semon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Semon most popular?
The single biggest year for Semon was 1922, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Semon is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Semon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 181 people with the name Semon, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,888 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Semon in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Semon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Semon on both sides of the split. Of the 179 people counted with this name, 121 were male (67.6%) and 58 were female (32.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Semon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Semon is White at 35.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Semon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Semon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.4% (64 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Semon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Semon a male name?
Yes, 70.6% of people registered as Semon in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Semon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Semon in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Semon can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Semon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.