Simeon
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "he who hears" or "he who listens".
Name Census estimates that about 7,953 living Americans carry the first name Simeon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Simeon today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Simeon births was 2019 (222 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Simeon. 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.
People living today
8.0K
~ 1 in 43,097 Americans
Peak year
2019
222 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,142
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Simeon
Out of the 9,283 babies given the name Simeon since 1880, 99.7% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Simeon as a male name
- Ranked #1,142 in 2024
- 184 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (222 births)
Simeon as a female name
- Ranked #19,181 in 2011
- 5 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1977 (5 births)
Popularity
Simeon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Simeon from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,978 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Simeon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Simeon 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 Simeon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Simeons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Simeon, while Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 133 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Simeon
The name Simeon has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, deriving from the Biblical Hebrew name Shim'on, which means "he has heard." This name can be traced back to ancient times, with its earliest recorded use in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where it is given to one of the twelve sons of Jacob.
The name Simeon gained particular prominence in the Christian tradition, as it was the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, known as Simon the Zealot or Simon the Canaanite. This Simeon is mentioned in the New Testament gospels as one of the disciples who followed Jesus during his ministry.
Another notable figure with the name Simeon was Simeon the God-Receiver, a devout man in Jerusalem who, according to the Gospel of Luke, was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. He is celebrated in the Christian tradition for recognizing the infant Jesus as the Messiah when Mary and Joseph brought him to the Temple.
In the 2nd century AD, a Christian writer named Simeon of Jerusalem is believed to have been the second bishop of Jerusalem, succeeding James, the brother of Jesus. He is regarded as a martyr by the Christian church.
Simeon Stylites, also known as Simeon the Elder, was a renowned Christian ascetic and monk who lived in the 5th century AD. He is famous for living atop a pillar for 37 years, a practice known as stylitism, which attracted many followers and admirers.
In the 11th century, Simeon of Polirone was an influential Italian monk and abbot who played a significant role in the reform of monastic life in northern Italy. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
Throughout history, the name Simeon has been used by various individuals, including Simeon of Bulgaria, a 10th-century Bulgarian ruler, and Simeon I of Moscow, a 15th-century Grand Prince of Moscow. These examples highlight the widespread use and adaptations of the name across different cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Simeon
People
Simeon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Simeon 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
Simeon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Simeon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,953 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Simeon 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 43,097 US residents.
Is Simeon a common name?
We classify Simeon as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,283 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Simeon most popular?
The single biggest year for Simeon was 2019, when 222 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Simeon is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Simeon a male name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Simeon 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.
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.