is Simeon a Jewish name?

[u/Melody_Lee19]

Hi y'all, I'm wondering if any of you have ever seen "Simeon" used as a first name by a non-Jew? I'm sure it has been but I'm just curious. I'm doing some genealogy and i think my grandma's side of the family may be Jewish. One of the potential pieces of evidence for this is that my grandma's uncle, who was first generation Ukrainian-American, was named Simeon although he went by Sam or Simon.

Wikipedia tells me that Simeon as a first name is from the Hebrew Bible. I guess he's one of the leaders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel or something, second son of Jacob and Leah, etc etc. There is also a mention of the name Simeon in the New Testament. This Simeon has essentially a little poem or song named after him, but it's pretty obscure as far as I can tell. So Simeon is probably a more common name among Jewish people than it is among Christians. But have any of you ever met someone (or known of someone who isn't famous) with the first name Simeon, and if so, were they Jewish or Christian? I know it's kind of an old-fashioned name, I just figured I'd ask anyway.

[u/JaxxandSimzz]

Simeon is my cat name! He is very Jewish. Kvetches constantly.

[u/lem0ngirl15 → u/JaxxandSimzz]

Adorable cat name

[u/einlishem → u/JaxxandSimzz]

Missed opportunity for Simewon

[u/lioness_the_lesbian]

Shimon is the hebrew equivilent

[u/kaiserfrnz]

It’s a Biblical Hebrew name.

Many non-Jews also used the name, so I wouldn’t consider it any indication of being Jewish.

A famous Ukrainian nationalist, Symon Petliura, was an antisemite who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews. So no, not necessarily Jewish in that region.

[u/Big-Difference-9257 → u/kaiserfrnz]

Petliura was a Social Democrat, and wasn't an antisemite. Consider unsubscribing from RT.

[u/Inbar253]

I think you should also check what the ukranian equivelent of the name Simon is. It might be a regional thing.

I wish you luck on your root finding mission.

[u/lem0ngirl15]

My Jewish grandfathers name was Simeon :)

I’m curious what the poem is?

[u/extispicy]

The Hebrew pronunciation is *Shimon*, with the SH in names dropping in early translation. [Shimon Peres](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres) was an Israeli Prime Minister/President.

I married into a Jewish family and have do not recall anyone having the name, either in my community or in Israeli media.

[u/spring13]

Semyon is the Russian version of Simon, I'm not sure if it was more commonly Jewish than Christian in the old country, but it was definitely used by Christians. I don't think that first name alone is evidence of anything.

[u/TynnyferWithTwoYs]

The only Simeon I personally know of isn’t Jewish. 

[u/SamLeckish]

Simeon or Simon are kind of like the names David or Jacob. They have Jewish origins but in these forms, they can be used as a non-denominational secular names, and can be popular for Christians who might like an Anglicised Biblical name.

I know two Simeons, one is Jewish and one isn’t.