Simeon
Meaning
traditionally God has heard
The story
Simeon is among the oldest names still in use, Hebrew for he has heard: in Genesis, Leah names her second son Simeon because God has heard her. Another Simeon, the old man in Luke's Gospel who takes the infant Jesus in his arms, carried the name into centuries of Christian tradition. Its most surprising modern bearer is Simeon II of Bulgaria, who became tsar at six, was deposed by the communists at nine, spent half a century in exile, and then returned to be elected prime minister of Bulgaria in 2001, often described as the only deposed monarch ever voted back into power. In America, Simeon has never been common but never quite absent either: a quiet biblical presence in the records whose strongest stretch has come in recent decades. Some names shout; this one, fittingly, listens.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Simeon peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
70 people · the #52,921 first name in Brazil · median age 36
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Simeon
Most people given the name Simeon in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Simeon deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Simeon truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Simeon fits with your family’s names and surname.
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