Sims
A diminutive form of the Norman French name Simon, meaning "listener".
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Sims. It is a predominantly male name (98.4% of registrations). The average person named Sims today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sims births was 1919 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sims. 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
117
~ 1 in 2,929,524 Americans
Peak year
1919
18 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2019 SSA rank
#11,928
Tracked since 1900
Gender
Gender distribution for Sims
Sims leans heavily male at 98.4% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sims as a male name
- Ranked #11,928 in 2019
- 6 male births in 2019
- Peak: 1919 (18 births)
Sims as a female name
- Ranked #17,349 in 2021
- 5 female births in 2021
- Peak: 2021 (5 births)
Popularity
Sims: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sims from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 65 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sims 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 Sims during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sims' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sims
The given name Sims is a variant of the English surname Sims, which is derived from the medieval given name Sim. The name Sim is a diminutive or pet form of the name Simon, which has its origins in the ancient Hebrew name Shim'on, meaning "he has heard" or "he is obedient."
The name Simon was widely used in the early Christian era, as it was the name of one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. The name Sims likely emerged as a shortened or diminutive form of Simon during the Middle Ages in England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sims can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England conducted in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Simus," which was likely a Latinized version of the name Sim or Sims.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sims. One of the earliest was Sims Reeves (1818-1900), an English tenor singer who was renowned for his interpretations of operatic roles and oratorio works.
Another prominent figure with the name Sims was Winfield Scott Sims (1839-1923), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who later served as a Brigadier General and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in 1861.
In the field of literature, Sims was the first name of Sims Reeves Porteous (1846-1919), an Australian poet and journalist who wrote extensively about the history and culture of his home country.
In the world of sports, Sims was the first name of Sims Hendren (1913-1982), an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England national team in the 1930s and 1940s.
Another notable figure with the name Sims was Sims McDonough (1915-1994), an American lawyer and judge who served as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio from 1971 to 1988.
People
Sims + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sims 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
Sims: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sims?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sims 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 2,929,524 US residents.
Is Sims a common name?
We classify Sims as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 311 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sims most popular?
The single biggest year for Sims was 1919, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sims is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sims a male name?
Yes, 98.4% of people registered as Sims 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.