Sim
A short form of Simon or Simeon, used as a surname and personal name in medieval England and Scotland.
The #5,732 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 51,058 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as a diminutive or shortened form of the personal names Simon or Simeon. Those biblical names come through Greek and Latin from Hebrew forms meaning, in effect, “he has heard” or “God has heard.” In medieval records, Sim often appears as a familiar pet form of Simon, later inherited as a hereditary surname.
History
The name is recorded in medieval English sources, including a 1379 Yorkshire poll tax entry for Thomas Symme. It also appears in Scottish and northern English naming traditions, where short forms and double diminutives such as Simkin were common. Related surnames like Sims, Simson, Simmons, and Simpson reflect the same root.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Sim was so often treated as a pet form, it could generate a whole family of surnames just by adding endings like -s, -son, or -kin.
From the historical record
“Rolls was usually Silvestre. SIM, a dim. of Simon, Simeon, q.v. Thomas Symme. — Yorks Poll-Tax, A.D. 1379. Bayth Sym and his bruder. — Symmie and his Bruder, 10. SIMBARB (A.-Fr.-Lat.-Gr.)Bel.to Ste. Barbe (Normandy) [Barbe is a French form of”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)