Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

''Šimʿon'', Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Symeon. It is a cognate of the name Simon.

Meaning

The name is derived from

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

, son of

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

and

Leah Leah () appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has thr ...

, patriarch of the Tribe of Simeon. The text of Genesis (29:33) argues that the name of ''Simeon'' refers to Leah's belief that

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

had heard that she was hated by Jacob, in the sense of not being as favoured as

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

. Implying a derivation from the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

term ''shama on'', meaning "he has heard"; this is a similar etymology as the Torah gives for the theophoric name ''

Ishmael In the Bible, biblical Book of Genesis, Ishmael (; ; ; ) is the first son of Abraham. His mother was Hagar, the handmaiden of Abraham's wife Sarah. He died at the age of 137. Traditionally, he is seen as the ancestor of the Arabs. Within Isla ...

'' ("God has heard"; Genesis 16:11), on the basis of which it has been argued that the tribe of Simeon may originally have been an Ishmaelite group (Cheyne and Black, ''

Encyclopaedia Biblica ''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encycloped ...

''). Alternatively, Hitzig, W. R. Smith, Stade, and Kerber compared שִׁמְעוֹן ''Šīmə‘ōn'' to Arabic سِمع ''simˤ'' "the offspring of the hyena and the female wolf"; as supports, Smith points to Arabic tribal names ''Simˤ'' "a subdivision of the defenders (the Medinites)" and ''Samˤān'' "a subdivision of Tamim".''Encyclopædia Biblica: Q to Z'', edited by Thomas Kelly Chase
p. 4531
/ref> In classical rabbinical sources, the name is sometimes interpreted as meaning "he who listens o the words of God (

Genesis Rabba Genesis Rabbah (, also known as Bereshit Rabbah and abbreviated as GenR) is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is an expository midrash comprising a collection of ...

h 61:4), and at other times thought to derive from ''sham 'in'', meaning "there is sin", which is argued to be a prophetic reference to Zimri's sexual miscegenation with a

Midian Midian (; ; , ''Madiam''; Taymanitic: 𐪃𐪕𐪚𐪌 ''MDYN''; ''Mīḏyān'') is a geographical region in West Asia, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia. mentioned in the Tanakh and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was ...

ite woman, a type of relationship which rabbinical sources regard as sinful (''Jewish Encyclopedia'').

In the Bible

Simeon (son of Jacob) Simeon () was the second of the six sons of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite tribe of Simeon, according to the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. Biblical scholars regard the tribe as having been part of the original Israelite ...

, in the Hebrew Bible * Tribe of Simeon, one of the twelve tribes of Israel * Simeon the Just (3rd century BC?) a Jewish High Priest, also called "Simeon the Righteous" (not the same as the New Testament figure, below) *

Simeon (Gospel of Luke) Simeon () at the Temple is the "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who, according to , met Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as they entered the Temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses on the 40th day from Jesus' birth, i.e. the present ...

, figure in the New Testament who blessed Jesus and his parents in the Jerusalem temple *

Simeon Niger Simon Niger is a person in the Book of Acts in the New Testament. He is mentioned in Acts 13:1 as being one of the "prophets and teachers" in the church of Antioch: The nickname ''Niger'' is interpreted by some to mean "black", referring to a d ...

, person in the Book of Acts

Persons with the given name

Up to 1700

:''Ordered chronologically.'' *

Simeon of Jerusalem Simeon of Jerusalem, or Simon of Clopas (), was a Jewish Christian leader and according to most Christian traditions the second Bishop of Jerusalem (63 or 70–107 or 117), succeeding James, brother of Jesus. Simeon is sometimes identified wit ...

(15–14 BC–c. 107 or 117), 2nd Bishop of Jerusalem, perhaps one of the Seventy Apostles sent out by Jesus *

Simeon ben Gamliel Simeon ben Gamliel (I) ( or רשב"ג הראשון; c. 10 BCE – 70 CE) was a '' Tanna'' (sage) and leader of the Jewish people. He served as nasi of the Great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem during the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War, succ ...

, Nasi of the Sanhedrin in 50 AD *

Simeon ben Gamliel II Simeon (or Shimon) ben Gamaliel II (Hebrew: ) was a Tanna of the third generation and president of the Great Sanhedrin. He was the son of Gamaliel II and father of Judah I (Yehuda HaNasi). Biography Simeon was a youth in Betar when the Bar Kok ...

, Nasi of the Sanhedrin in c. 118 AD *

Simeon Bar Kokhba Simon bar Kokhba ( ) or Simon bar Koseba ( ), commonly referred to simply as Bar Kokhba, was a Jewish military leader in Judea. He lent his name to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which he initiated against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. Though they were u ...

, leader of the Bar Kokhba revolt *

Simeon bar Yochai Shimon bar Yochai (Zohar#Language, Zoharic Aramaic: , ''Šimʿon bar Yoḥay'') or Shimon ben Yochai (Mishnaic Hebrew: ), also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century tannaim, tanna or sage of the period of Judaea (Roman province), Roman ...

, rabbi of the Tannaim period, possibly the author of the ''Zohar'' *

Simeon Stylites Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite ', Koine Greek ', ' (Greek language, Greek: Συμεών ό Στυλίτης; ; 2 September 459) was a Syrian Asceticism#Christianity, Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living 36 years on a s ...

(c. 388–459 AD), Christian pillar-hermit from Sisan, Syria *

Simeon Stylites III Simeon Stylites III was a pillar hermit bearing the same name as Simeon Stylites and Simeon Stylites the Younger. He is honoured by both the Greek Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church. He is hence believed to have lived in the fifth ...

, 5th-century pillar-hermit *

Simeon Stylites the Younger Simeon Stylites the Younger, also known as Simeon of the Admirable Mountain (, Arabic: مار سمعان العمودي الأصغر ''mār semʻān l-ʻamūdī l-asghar''; 521 – 596/597), is a saint in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox ...

(521–597 AD), hermit and pillar-hermit from Antioch *Simeon, the name of one priest and one deacon martyred with Abda and Abdjesus * Simeon the Holy Fool, 6th-century Christian saint and hermit *

Simeon I of Bulgaria Simeon I the Great (; ; ) ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927,Lalkov, ''Rulers of Bulgaria'', pp. 23–25. during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest ...

(866–927), Bulgarian tsar * Symeon Metaphrastes (10th century?), Byzantine hagiographer *

Symeon the New Theologian Saint Symeon the New Theologian (; 949–1022) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and poet who was one of the four saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and given the title of "Theologian" (along with John the Apostle, Gregory of Nazianzus, ...

(949–1022), Eastern Orthodox saint * Simeon (abbot) (994–1094), Abbot of Ely Cathedral * Simeon Seth (fl. 1070), Jewish Byzantine physician, writer, and grand chamberlain from Antioch *

Simeon of Mantua Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

(died 1016), Armenian monk *

Symeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (fl. c.1090 to c. 1128 ) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon was a Benedictine monk at Durham Cathedral at the end of the eleventh century. He may have been one of 23 mo ...

(died after 1129), English chronicler and monk of Durham Priory *

Stefan Nemanja Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince (Grand Župan#Serbia, Veliki Župan) of the Grand Principality of Serbia, Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška (region), Raš ...

(1113–1199), canonized as Saint Simeon, Serbian ruler and saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church * Simeon of Moscow, 14th-century Grand Prince of Moscow * Simeon Uroš, 14th-century ruler of Epirus and Thessaly *

Simon of Trent Simon of Trent (; , also known as ; 1472–1475), also known as Saint Simon (or Simeon) of Trent, was a young boy from the city of Trento, Trent, in the Prince-Bishopric of Trent (now Trentino, Italy), whose disappearance and death were blamed on ...

, 15th-century boy supposedly killed by Jews, and formerly a martyr of the Catholic Church * Patriarch Symeon I of Constantinople, or Symeon of Trebizond, reigned three times: 1466, 1471–1475 and 1482–1486 * Simeon Bekbulatovich, ''de jure'' Tsar of Russia (1575–1576) * Symeon of Polotsk (1629–1680), Russian poet, dramatist, churchman, and enlightener

Since 1700

:''Ordered alphabetically by last name.'' * Simeon Barrow (born 2002), American football player * Semyon Belits-Geiman (born 1945), former Soviet Olympic freestyle swimmer *

Semyon Budyonny Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny ( rus, Семён Миха́йлович Будённый, Semyon Mikháylovich Budyonnyy, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ bʊˈdʲɵnːɨj, a=ru-Simeon Budyonniy.ogg; – 26 October 1973) was a Russian and ...

(1883–1973), Soviet military commander *Simeon Coxe (usually known only as Simeon), American musician, singer and synth player of Silver Apples * Simeon Jocelyn (1799-1879), minister and abolitionist *

Simeon Mangiuca Simeon Mangiuca (September 2, 1831 – ) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian ethnic Romanian folklorist. Born in Oravița, Broșteni, Caraș-Severin County, in the Banat region, his father Ioachim was a Romanian Orthodox priest; his mothe ...

(1831–1890), Austro-Hungarian Romanian folklorist * Simeon V. Marcelo (born 1953), Filipino lawyer and former Ombudsman and Solicitor-General of the Philippines *

Simeon North Simeon North (July 13, 1765 – August 25, 1852) was an American gun manufacturer, who developed one of America's first milling machines (possibly the very first) in 1818 and played an important role in the development of interchangeable parts ma ...

(1765–1852), American gunmaker *

Siméon Denis Poisson Baron Siméon Denis Poisson (, ; ; 21 June 1781 – 25 April 1840) was a French mathematician and physicist who worked on statistics, complex analysis, partial differential equations, the calculus of variations, analytical mechanics, electricity ...

(1781–1840), French mathematician * Simeon Rice (born 1974), American football player * Simeon Woods Richardson (born 2000), American professional baseball player * Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (born 1937), Tsar of Bulgaria (1943–1946), prime minister of Bulgaria (2001–2005) * Semyon Sereda (1871–1933), Soviet politician *

Simeon Solomon Simeon Solomon (9 October 1840 – 14 August 1905) was a British painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelites who was noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire. His career was cut short as a result of public scandal following h ...

(1840-1905), British painter * Simeon Thomas (born 1993), American football player * Simeon Tienpont (born 1982), Dutch sailor * Semyon Varlamov (born 1988), Russian ice hockey player * Simeon S. Willis (1879–1965), American lawyer, judge, and politician from Kentucky

References