Head to head · Boys' names
Alex vs Simon
#232 vs #230 in 2025
Simon is a whisker ahead (#230 vs #232 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Simon is holding its place on the charts, Alex 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; Alex 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: Alex #101, Simon #161 — Alex higher
- 1890s: Alex #117, Simon #197 — Alex higher
- 1900s: Alex #126, Simon #219 — Alex higher
- 1910s: Alex #131, Simon #251 — Alex higher
- 1920s: Alex #164, Simon #321 — Alex higher
- 1930s: Alex #199, Simon #383 — Alex higher
- 1940s: Alex #222, Simon #433 — Alex higher
- 1950s: Alex #252, Simon #501 — Alex higher
- 1960s: Alex #213, Simon #525 — Alex higher
- 1970s: Alex #175, Simon #421 — Alex higher
- 1980s: Alex #99, Simon #355 — Alex higher
- 1990s: Alex #55, Simon #341 — Alex higher
- 2000s: Alex #69, Simon #252 — Alex higher
- 2010s: Alex #127, Simon #247 — Alex higher
- 2020s: Alex #201, Simon #245 — Alex higher
Alex stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alex | Simon |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #101 | #161 |
| 1890s | #117 | #197 |
| 1900s | #126 | #219 |
| 1910s | #131 | #251 |
| 1920s | #164 | #321 |
| 1930s | #199 | #383 |
| 1940s | #222 | #433 |
| 1950s | #252 | #501 |
| 1960s | #213 | #525 |
| 1970s | #175 | #421 |
| 1980s | #99 | #355 |
| 1990s | #55 | #341 |
| 2000s | #69 | #252 |
| 2010s | #127 | #247 |
| 2020s | #201 | #245 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Alex
Not charting outside the US.
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
Alex
defender of men
From the Greek Alexandros, joining alexein, to defend or ward off, with the stem andr-, man. The sense is protective rather than martial.
Alexandros → Alexander → Alex
How it traveled
Alexandros is one of the oldest names still in ordinary use: it appears in the Iliad as a second name for Paris of Troy, long before Alexander of Macedon made it famous across three continents in the fourth century BC. His conquests carried it east, where it survives in Persian and Urdu as Sikandar; the church carried it west, through saints, popes and later the tsars of Russia.
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
Alex
AL-iks
One settled pronunciation in English, stress on the first syllable. Spelled correctly on first hearing in most languages that use the Latin alphabet.
- Al — Informal and older-fashioned; also stands alone as a given name.
- Lex — Informal; used independently as a given name as well.
- Alexander — Not a nickname but the long form many people will assume lies behind Alex, and will sometimes use in formal settings.
- Ally — Informal, more often heard for girls named Alex.
- Also Sasha.
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
Alex
Alex Ferguson (b. 1941) — Soccer's most decorated manager
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 Alex if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlex is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowAlex 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
- a name that charts abroad tooSimon is on the national lists of France
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 25% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 76% for Alex
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
Alex
Strengths
- Already the short form, so there is nothing left to shorten against your wishes — the everyday name and the legal name can be the same.
- Spelled and said correctly on first contact across English, Spanish, Portuguese and German, which matters in a family with more than one language.
- An unbroken written record from Homeric Greek through the tsars to the present, so it has never had to be revived.
To consider
- Alex arrives at boys through Alexander and at girls through Alexandra, Alexandria and Alexis, so on paper it signals no gender. Some families like that; others find the emails addressed to the wrong person tiresome.
- Many people will assume Alex is short for Alexander and lengthen it unasked — on forms, at doctors' offices, in introductions. Expect to correct it now and then if the full name is not what you chose.
- It is a name still strongly represented among adults now in their thirties, which means plenty of grown Alexes in the workplace and few in the kindergarten room.
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
Alex
76%chance Alex feels dated by 2040
Alex is coming down from a big peak (#47 in 1995). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Alex 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
Still torn between Alex and Simon?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Names with an X in them
- Sports legend names in the records
- all guides
Where Alex and Simon each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alex or Simon — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alex or Simon?
- Simon, in 2025: Simon ranked #230 with 1,529 babies; Alex ranked #232 with 1,515 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alex or Simon?
- Simon. Over the last five years Alex moved down 49 places; Simon moved up 19 places.
- Which is the older name, Alex or Simon?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Alex and Simon?
- About 245,000 people named Alex 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 Alexs or Simons in the classroom?
- Alex 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
Keep playing
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