Head to head · Boys' names
Abel vs Simon
#231 vs #230 in 2025
Simon is a whisker ahead (#230 vs #231 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Simon is holding its place on the charts, Abel is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Simon leads 3 measures of 6; Abel leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Abel #604, Simon #161 — Simon higher
- 1890s: Abel #629, Simon #197 — Simon higher
- 1900s: Abel #732, Simon #219 — Simon higher
- 1910s: Abel #711, Simon #251 — Simon higher
- 1920s: Abel #687, Simon #321 — Simon higher
- 1930s: Abel #610, Simon #383 — Simon higher
- 1940s: Abel #575, Simon #433 — Simon higher
- 1950s: Abel #507, Simon #501 — Simon higher
- 1960s: Abel #478, Simon #525 — Abel higher
- 1970s: Abel #423, Simon #421 — Simon higher
- 1980s: Abel #385, Simon #355 — Simon higher
- 1990s: Abel #372, Simon #341 — Simon higher
- 2000s: Abel #350, Simon #252 — Simon higher
- 2010s: Abel #178, Simon #247 — Abel higher
- 2020s: Abel #210, Simon #245 — Abel higher
Simon stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Abel has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Abel | Simon |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #604 | #161 |
| 1890s | #629 | #197 |
| 1900s | #732 | #219 |
| 1910s | #711 | #251 |
| 1920s | #687 | #321 |
| 1930s | #610 | #383 |
| 1940s | #575 | #433 |
| 1950s | #507 | #501 |
| 1960s | #478 | #525 |
| 1970s | #423 | #421 |
| 1980s | #385 | #355 |
| 1990s | #372 | #341 |
| 2000s | #350 | #252 |
| 2010s | #178 | #247 |
| 2020s | #210 | #245 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Abel
- France#98
Simon
- France#50
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Abel
breath, vapour
The Hebrew name Hevel is the same word used for "breath" or "vapour" — the fleeting thing you can see on a cold morning and then cannot. That is the traditional reading and the most widely given one. Some scholars instead connect the name to the Akkadian word for "son", and others to an old Semitic root for a herdsman, which suits the Genesis account of Abel as a keeper of flocks. The three readings have coexisted for a long time without one winning.
Hevel → Ἄβελ (Abel) → Abel
How it traveled
Abel begins as the Hebrew Hevel, the second son of Adam and Eve in Genesis and the first shepherd in the book. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek in the last centuries BC, they wrote it Ἄβελ, and Latin took it from there as Abel — the form English, Spanish, French and German all still use.
Simon
he has heard, or listening
The Hebrew source is Shim'on, from a root meaning to hear or listen. Worth knowing: an unrelated Greek name Simon already existed, from a word meaning snub-nosed, and the two collided in the Greek-speaking world. The Hebrew line is the one that carried the name onward.
Shim'on → Symeon → Simon (Greek) → Simon (Latin) → Simon
How it traveled
The name begins as the Hebrew Shim'on, which the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered as Symeon. In the Greek of the New Testament it appears in the trimmer form Simon, and because it belonged to several prominent figures there, it traveled wherever those texts traveled.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Abel
AY-bul
In English it is a homophone of the word "able". Spanish and French speakers put the stress on the second syllable instead — ah-BEL — so a bilingual family may hear both versions of the same name at the same table.
- Abe — The main English short form; it also stands alone as a given name in its own right, reached separately through Abraham.
- Abie — An older affectionate form, mostly heard within families rather than in public use.
- Ab — A clipped, informal version, used more in speech than in writing.
Simon
SY-mun
Stress on the first syllable in English. French speakers say it roughly see-MOHN, and the Italian Simone is three syllables, see-MOH-nay — a masculine name there, unlike the French feminine Simone.
- Si — The oldest and most common short form in English, informal, used within families more than in writing.
- Sim — An informal clipping with a long history in English; also survives as a surname element.
- Simmy — Affectionate and mostly used with young children.
- Simo — Heard chiefly in British and Australian informal speech, often among friends and teammates.
Who has carried each name
Abel
Abel Tasman (b. 1603) — The explorer Tasmania is named after
Simon
Simon Cowell (b. 1959) — American Idol's famously blunt judge
Simon Pegg (b. 1970) — Shaun of the Dead star
Simon Wiesenthal (b. 1908) — Holocaust survivor who spent his life bringing war criminals to justice
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Abel if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAbel is stepping back from its peak
Choose Simon if you want…
- a name on the way upup 19 places on the charts in five years
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Abel
Strengths
- Four letters, phonetic, and already familiar to almost every English speaker — rarely misspelled, rarely mispronounced.
- Works in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese with the same spelling, which matters in a household or extended family that uses more than one.
- A continuous written record going back to the Hebrew Bible, so it has never depended on a fashion to survive.
To consider
- The Genesis story is inseparable from the name: Abel is the brother who is killed by Cain. Most people simply register the name as biblical, but some hear the story first, and it is worth knowing that before you commit.
- In English it sounds exactly like "able", which can lead to a lifetime of small wordplay — usually mild, occasionally tiresome.
- Stress falls differently in English and Spanish, so a child may answer to two slightly different versions of their own name depending on who is speaking.
Simon
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and already familiar to English speakers, so it rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Works nearly unchanged in French, German, Spanish, Hungarian and Hebrew, which makes it easy to carry across languages and families.
- Two syllables with clear consonants — short enough not to need a nickname, with Si and Sim available if one is wanted.
To consider
- Simon says is a playground game and Simple Simon an old English nursery rhyme, so the name comes with a couple of ready-made jokes. They tend to surface in early primary school and fade quickly.
- The Italian and French relatives cause occasional mix-ups: Simone reads as feminine to most American ears, and forms sent from abroad sometimes arrive spelled that way.
- Some readers will think first of one very well-known television judge, which colors the name for adults more than for children.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Abel
40%chance Abel feels dated by 2040
Abel sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Simon
25%chance Simon feels dated by 2040
Simon peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Abel and Simon in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Abel and Simon — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Abel or Simon — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Abel or Simon?
- Simon, in 2025: Simon ranked #230 with 1,529 babies; Abel ranked #231 with 1,525 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Abel or Simon?
- Simon. Over the last five years Abel moved down 50 places; Simon moved up 19 places.
- Which is the older name, Abel or Simon?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Abel and Simon?
- About 60,500 people named Abel are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 57,000 people named Simon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Abels or Simons in the classroom?
- Abel will almost certainly be the only one in school. Simon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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