Simon is a given name, from Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן Šimʻôn, meaning "listen" or "hearing".[1] It is also a classical Greek name, deriving from an adjective meaning "flat-nosed".[2]: 232 [3] In the first century AD, Simon was the most popular male name for Jews in Roman Judea.[4]
The Hebrew name is Hellenised as Symeon (Greek: Συμεών) in the Septuagint, and in the New Testament as both Symeon[5] and, according to most authorities, Simon. Some commentators on the New Testament say that it could be a Hellenised form of the Hebrew Shim'on, but if not then it indicates that Peter came from a "Hellenistic background"; this was not unheard of in this era, as contemporary Jews such as Andrew the Apostle (Simon's brother) sometimes bore originally Greek names.[6]: 58
Simon is one Latinised version of the name, the others being Simeon or Symeon. This practice carried over into English: in the King James Version, the name Simeon Niger is spelt Simeon (Acts 13:1) as is Simeon (Gospel of Luke) (Luke 2:25), while Peter is called Simon (John 1:44).
List of people with the given name Simon
Simon is a common name and below is just a selection of notable people. For a comprehensive list see All pages with titles beginning with Simon.
Ancient
Medieval
- Simeon I of Bulgaria (died 927), tsar of the First Bulgarian Empire
- Simon the Tanner (10th century), Coptic saint
- Simon of Kalocsa (fl. 1108–1142), Hungarian prelate
- Simon, Bishop of Transylvania (fl. 1111–1113), Hungarian prelate
- Simon of Worcester (died 1150), English Bishop of Worcester
- Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (1208–1265) Leader of the barons against Henry III
- Simon Kacsics (fl. 1212–1228), Hungarian lord
- Simon Kacsics, Count of the Székelys (fl. 1291–1327), Hungarian lord
- Simon of Southwell, canon lawyer and Treasurer of Lichfield Cathedral
- Simon Sudbury (died 1381) English Archbishop and Lord Chancellor
- Simon, Metropolitan of Moscow (died 1512), Russian Orthodox leader
Renaissance to modern
- Simon Abeywickrema (1903–1948), Sri Lankan politician
- Simon Abkarian (born 1962), French actor
- Simon Adjei (born 1993), Swedish footballer
- Simon Ammann (born 1981), Swiss ski jumper
- Simon Amstell (born 1979), English television presenter
- Simon Armitage (born 1979), English poet, playwright and novelist who was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2019
- Simon Appiah Asamoah (born 2002), Ghanaian footballer
- Simon Arora (born 1969), British billionaire businessman
- Simon Aspelin (born 1974), Swedish tennis player
- Simon Baker (born 1969), Australian actor and director
- Simon Barere (1896–1951), Russian-born American pianist
- Simon Baron-Cohen (born 1958), British autism researcher
- Simon Baynes, British politician
- Simon Beckett (born 1960), British journalist and author
- Simon Bening (1483–1561), Flemish miniaturist
- Simon van den Bergh (1819–1907), Dutch margarine manufacturer, founder of Unilever
- Simón Bolívar (1783–1830), Latin American military and political leader
- Simon Bolivar Buckner (1823–1914), American soldier and Governor of Kentucky
- Simon Callow (born 1949), British actor
- Simon Cameron (1799–1889), American politician and Secretary of War
- Simon Carmiggelt (1913–1987), Dutch poet, columnist and satirist
- Simon Chang (born 1947), Chinese-Canadian fashion designer
- Simon Chang (born 1954), Premier of the Republic of China
- Simon Conway Morris (born 1951), English palaeontologist
- Simon Coveney (born 1972), Irish government minister
- Simon Cowell (born 1959), British television personality
- Simon Dach (1605–1659), Prussian lyrical poet
- Simon Davies (disambiguation), several people
- Simon Donaldson (born 1957), English mathematician
- Simon Dring (1945–2021), British journalist and television presenter
- Simon During (born 1950), New Zealand-Australian academic
- Simon Episcopius (1583–1643), Dutch theologian and Remonstrant
- Simon Fairweather (born 1969), Australian archer
- Simon Farine (born 1987), Canadian basketball player
- Simon Fernando Sri Chandrasekera (1829-1908), Sri Lankan Sinhala businessman
- Simon Gagné (born 1980), Canadian ice hockey player
- Simon Gallup (born 1960), bassist in English rock band The Cure
- Simon Harris (born 1962), British music producer
- Simon Helberg (born 1980), American actor, comedian, and musician
- Simon Heslop (born 1987), English footballer
- Simon Jolin-Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec
- Simon Joyner (born 1971), American singer-songwriter
- Simon Karam (born 1950), lawyer and diplomat
- Simon Katich (born 1976), Australian test cricketer
- Simon Keenlyside (born 1959), British baritone
- Simon Kidane (born 1975), Ethiopian basketball player
- Simon Kuper (born 1969), British author
- Simon Lane (born 1978), British comedian and Youtuber
- Simon Le Bon (born 1958), lead singer of English band Duran Duran
- Simon MacCorkindale, British actor
- Simon Madden (born 1957), Australian footballer
- Simon Magalashvili (1968), Israeli Olympic judoka
- Simon Marcus (1986), Canadian kickboxer
- Simon van der Meer (1925–2011), Dutch particle physicist and Nobel Laureate
- Simon Mignolet (born 1988), Belgian football player
- Simon Miller, Wrestling Journalist for WhatCulture and Professional wrestler
- Simon Monjack (1970–2010), British filmmaker
- Simon Neil (born 1979), Scottish guitarist and lead singer of Biffy Clyro
- Simon Oakland (1928–1983), American actor
- Simon Okker (1881–1944), Dutch Olympic fencer killed in Auschwitz
- Simon Pegg (born 1970), English writer and actor
- Simon Petliura (1879 –1926), Ukrainian politician and journalist.
- Simon Poulsen (born 1984), Danish footballer
- Simon Pryce (born 1972), Australian children's lead singer of The Wiggles
- Simon Rex (born 1974), American actor and rapper
- Simon H. Rifkind (1901–1995), American lawyer and judge
- Simon Rosenbaum (baseball) (born 1993), American-Israeli baseball player with Team Israel
- Simon Schama (born 1945), English historian specializing in art, Dutch, and French history
- Simon Sears (born 1984), Danish actor
- Simon Shirley (born 1966), Australian decathlete
- Simon Shnapir (born 1987), American Olympic medalist pair skater
- Simon Singer (born 1941), American world champion American handball player, and radio and television actor
- Simon Sjödin (born 1986), Swedish swimmer
- Simon Steel (born 1969), English cricketer
- Simon van der Stel (1639–1712), Dutch Governor of the Cape Colony
- Simon Stepaniak (born 1997), American football player
- Simon Stevin (1548–1620), Netherlandish mathematician, physicist and engineer
- Simon Tahamata (born 1956), Dutch and Belgian footballer
- Simon Terry (1974–2021), British archer
- Simon Townsend (born 1945) Australian Children's show host and producer
- Simon Tong (born 1972), English guitarist and keyboardist formerly of The Verve
- Simon Trpčeski (born 1979), Macedonian pianist
- Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971), Dutch novelist and poet
- Simon Vukčević (born 1986), Montenegrin footballer
- Simón Cano Le Tiec (born 1996), Spanish film critic
- Simon de Vlieger (1601–1653), Dutch designer, draughtsman, and marine painter
- Simon Vroemen (born 1969), Dutch steeplechase runner
- Simon Webbe (born 1978), English singer from Blue
- Simon Weston OBE (born 1961), British soldier who suffered severe burn injuries during the Falklands War
- Simon Wiesenthal (1908–2005), Austrian Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter
- Simon Yam (born 1955), Hong Kong actor/director
- Simeon II of Bulgaria (born 1937), tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria
Biblical characters
Fictional characters
- Simon Adebisi, a sadistic Nigerian inmate in the HBO drama Oz
- Simon Bar Sinister, main antagonist in the television cartoon Underdog
- Simon Basset, a character in Bridgerton
- Simon de Belleme, a baron and evil sorcerer in the television series Robin of Sherwood
- Simon Belmont, one of the main characters of the video game series Castlevania
- Simon Boccanegra, pirate in a Verdi opera by the same name
- Simon Camden, one of the main characters of television drama 7th Heaven
- Simon P. Chillings, a character who appeared in 5 episodes of The Punky Brewster TV sitcom
- Simon Doyle, played by Simon MacCorkindale in the movie Death on the Nile
- Simon Escher, a recurring villain in the espionage television series Burn Notice
- Simon Gold, a uncle of Sally Gold in Tennessee Williams's Little New Orleans Girl
- Simon Grace, one of the main characters of The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
- Simon Gruber, antagonist in Die Hard with a Vengeance
- Simon Henriksson, the main protagonist of Cry of Fear
- Simon Laurent, a character from Infinity Train
- Simon Legree, the antagonist of Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Simon Lewis, one of the protagonists in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
- Simon Lynch, a 9-year-old autistic boy and one of the main characters in the film Mercury Rising
- Sir Simon McDuck, a Disney character who is an ancestor of Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck
- Simon McKay, genius inventor played by David Rappaport on the CBS television series The Wizard.
- Simon Petrikov, more commonly known as the Ice King, a character in the animated television series Adventure Time
- Simon Phoenix, fictional criminal in the 1993 film Demolition Man
- Simon "Ghost" Riley, a popular campaign and playable character appearing in several games from the Call of Duty video game franchise, and the subject of a series of graphic novels
- Simon Seville, a fictional animated character from Alvin and the Chipmunks
- Simon Silver, one of the main characters of Red Lights
- Simon Sinestrari, protagonist of the 1971 film Simon, King of the Witches
- Simon Snow, the main character in Rainbow Rowell's novel Carry On
- Simon Spier, the main character in Becky Albertalli's novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, its follow up Leah on the Offbeat, and film adaptation Love, Simon.
- Simon Tam, fictional character from the television series Firefly
- Simon Templar, main character of Leslie Charteris' The Saint novels
- Simon (Gurren Lagann), protagonist of the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
- Simon (Lord of the Flies), character in Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
- Simon (Trollz), main villain in the television series Trollz
- Simon, a child in the British television programme Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
- Simon, a child in the Canadian television programme The Secret Railroad
- Simon, an angel in the 1995 film The Prophecy
- Simon, a character from the animated band Prozzäk
- Simon, a character from the television series The Walking Dead, played by Steven Ogg
- Simon, a fictional character from the animated film Wish
- Simple Simon, a character from Simon Says
- Simon Mitterer, an Austrian Lawyer with special hiking and navigation skills.