Meaning of the Name Simon

Simon is a Greek form of a name usually linked to the Hebrew Simeon. Along that line its meaning is often given as "he has heard" or "heard," reflecting the Hebrew root "to hear." It is best understood not as an independent Greek name, but as an adapted form of an older Semitic one.

Origin

The name Simon is of Greek; a form of the Hebrew/Aramaic name Simeon origin.

Who is Simon in the Bible?

In the New Testament the best-known Simon is Simon Peter, one of Jesus' disciples. He is among the first called followers and appears throughout the Gospels and Acts as a central witness. Other people named Simon include Simon of Cyrene, Simon the Pharisee, and Simon the leper.

The story of Simon in the Bible

Several men in the New Testament bear the name Simon, among them Simon of Cyrene, Simon the Pharisee, and Simon the leper. Yet the name belongs first to the fisherman of the Sea of Galilee, Simon Peter. In Matthew's account, Jesus sees Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake and calls them to follow him and become fishers of people; the brothers leave their nets and go. From that day Simon becomes one of Jesus' closest witnesses. In the region of Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asks his disciples who they say he is, it is Simon who gives one of history's defining answers, declaring Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Though he stumbles on the night of the arrest, denying that he knows Jesus, he is restored after the resurrection. At Pentecost it is Simon who stands up with the Eleven and delivers the first great gospel sermon to the Jerusalem crowd. He remains Scripture's most vivid picture of an ordinary fisherman transformed into a pioneering witness.

Is Simon mentioned in the Quran?

The name Simon does not appear by name in the Quran, though the Quran does speak of the disciples of Jesus as a group; in the New Testament the best-known bearer of the name is the apostle Simon Peter.

Verses where Simon appears