English
The surname Simm is of Scottish and English origin. It is derived from the Middle English given name 'Sim (me)', a short form of Simon. the surname thus signifies the 'son of Simon'. The given name Simon is derived from the Hebrew personal name 'shimon', which itself is probably derived from the verb "sham'a", to hearken. In the Old Testament the name is usually rendered as Simeon. Both Simon and Simeon were in use as given names in Western Europe from the Middle Ages onwards. However, the former was far more popular, no doubt because of its association with the apostle Simon Peter, the brother of Andrew. The name is borne in the New Testament by various characters: two apostles, a brother of Jesus, a Pharisee, a leper, a tanner, a sorcerer ( who offered money for the gifts of the Holy Ghost, giving rise to the term 'simony' ), and the man who carried Jesus's cross to the Crucifixion. This name has been confused with the Anglo-Scandinavian form Sigmund, a name whose popularity was reinforced at the time of the Conquest by the Norman form Simund. The name dates back to the thirteenth century were a Robert Symmes is recorded in historical archives. The surname was brought to America by English and Scottish immigrants. One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a Christopher Sims, who came to America aboard the Mary Ann; he settled in Boston, New England. This name is the two-hundredth and thirty-ninth most common surname in America.