What Does Simon Mean?


I know that Jesus changed the apostle Simon’s name to Peter which means “rock”, but what does the name Simon mean? I tried looking on the internet, but came up with all kinds of different results.


Simon is the English version of the Hebrew name Shimon. Shimon comes from the Hebrew word Sh’ma which means to listen, or hear and obey. The most famous use of the word is probably in Deut. 6:4, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,” where the Hebrew word translated “hear” is sh’ma.