Simona
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name "Shim'on", meaning "obedient" or "listener".
Name Census estimates that about 2,959 living Americans carry the first name Simona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Simona today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Simona births was 2014 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Simona. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Simona with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 115,835 Americans
Peak year
2014
67 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,912
Tracked since 1883
Census
Simona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,898 people with the first name Simona, which placed it at #3,508 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
#3,508
National first-name rank
People counted
5.9K
5,898 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Simona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Simona is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.1%) and Black (8.8%). 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 Simona 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 Simona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 3,268
- Hispanic or Latino31.1% · 1,837
- Black or African American8.8% · 517
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 151
- Two or more races1.8% · 104
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 21
Popularity
Simona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Simona 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 579 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Simona remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Simona 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 Simona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Simonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Simona, while Ohio, Washington, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 169 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Simona
The name Simona has its roots in the Late Latin name Simona, which is a feminine form of the masculine name Simon. Simon, in turn, is derived from the Hebrew name Shim'on, which means "he has heard" or "he has listened." The name Simona gained popularity during the early Christian era, particularly in regions with strong Roman and Greek cultural influences.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Simona can be found in the writings of Saint Jerome, a prominent Christian scholar and theologian from the 4th century. He mentioned a woman named Simona in his letter to Eustochium, where he praised her for her virtuous life and charitable deeds.
In the Middle Ages, the name Simona was particularly prevalent in Italy and other parts of Southern Europe. It was associated with several notable figures, including Simona Martini (c. 1284-1344), an Italian painter and a key figure in the development of early Renaissance art.
Another historical figure bearing the name Simona was Saint Simona Camporesi (1528-1567), an Italian nun and mystic who founded the Order of the Servants of Mary. She was canonized by Pope Clement XI in 1712 for her pious life and numerous miracles attributed to her.
In the 16th century, Simona Gourault (c. 1535-1599) was a French noblewoman and poet who wrote several sonnets and other poetic works. Her works were highly regarded during her lifetime and helped further the popularity of the name in France.
Moving into the 17th century, Simona Cantarini (1612-1648) was an Italian painter known for her religious works and portraits. She was part of the Bolognese School of painting and is considered one of the most talented female artists of her time.
These examples showcase the widespread use and recognition of the name Simona throughout various eras and cultures, particularly in regions with strong Christian and Mediterranean influences. The name has a rich historical background and has been associated with notable figures in the fields of art, literature, and religion.
People
Simona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Simona 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
Simona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Simona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,959 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Simona 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 115,835 US residents.
Is Simona a common name?
We classify Simona as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,994 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Simona most popular?
The single biggest year for Simona was 2014, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Simona is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Simona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,898 people with the name Simona, or 1.95 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,508 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 Simona 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 Simona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Simona appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,896 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Simona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Simona is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.1%) and Black (8.8%). 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 Simona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Simona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (3,268 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 Simona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Simona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Simona in the SSA data are female. 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 Simona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Simona 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 Simona 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 common is the name Simona?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Simona at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.