Meaning & origin
What it means
Shimshon is a romanization of שמשון. שמשון probably goes back to a word meaning “sun.”
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1976. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Shimshon through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 393
- 393 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 20 babies
- 2025
- 14
- #6,396 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +27%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 14 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 6,396 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 27.1% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (7). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 348 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Shimshon’s family of names
In English usage, Shimshon shares an earlier linguistic root with Samson. In Hebrew usage, Shimshon is a transliteration of שמשון.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Shimshon
- Shimshon AmitsurIsraeli mathematician (1921–1994)
- Shimshon UnichmanIsraeli politician (1907-1961)
- Shimshon BrokmanIsraeli sailorborn 1957
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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