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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : patronymic from a short form of the personal name Simon.
  • Jewish (from Ukraine; Symes, Symis) : metronymic from the Yiddish female personal name Sime (see Sima).
  • Benjamin Syms was a planter and philanthropist, probably the earliest inhabitant of any North American colony to bequeath property for the establishment of a free school. His name was spelled variously as Sims, Simes, Sym, Symms, Syms, and Symes. He was probably born in England, but was reported in the VA census of 1624/25 as age 33 and living at Basse’s Choice in what was later known as Isle of Wight County.

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