Simmonds
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Simon,” with Simmonds reflecting a later spelling variant of Simmons.
The #7,591 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,506 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Simmonds is a variant spelling of Simmons, ultimately from the personal name Simon, which came into English through medieval French and Latin forms. The root name Simon goes back to Hebrew Shim‘on, traditionally understood as meaning “he has heard.” The final -d in Simmonds is generally treated as an excrescent or analogical spelling, not a separate root element.
History
Nineteenth-century surname writers treated Simmonds as one of several spelling forms of Simmons, alongside Simonds and similar variants. The name is common in England and later spread to other English-speaking countries through migration. Older sources also note that the -d spelling could appear simply as a graphic variation in records and directories.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname scholars explicitly used Simmonds as an example of a surname whose final -d is a later spelling addition rather than part of the original name.
From the historical record
“SIMMONDS SIMMONS I Simmon(d)'s (Son). SIMMS, SIMM's (Son): v. SImm. I for Sumner, q.v. ■■ Simonett, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)