Simon

masc. proper name, from Latin, from Greek Symeon, from Hebrew Shim'on, literally "hearkening, hearing," from shama "he heard." In English Old Testaments usually printed as Simeon, but in the New Testament almost always as Simon. It also has been confused with the Greek masc. proper name Simōn, which is from simos "snub-nosed." The Simonians were an early Christian sect named for Simon Magus (see simony).

Alliterative Simple Simon "foolish person" is attested from 1730. The nursery rhyme about him is attested from 1841. Earlier he had been the subject of a popular chapbook, "Simple Simon's Misfortunes: Or His Wife Margery's Outrageous Cruelty."