Ukrainian names — pronunciation, meaning, origin

Semen — Pronunciation, Meaning & Origin

Male Ukrainian name (Семен)

Pronunciation

Pronunciation card for Semen
/sɛˈmɛn/ · se-MEN
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Meaning

Semen (Ukrainian: Семен) is a male name of Hebrew origin meaning «one whom the Lord heard», «heard by God». The Ukrainian folk form of the biblical name Simon / Shimon.

Origin & History

The name derives from Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן (Shimʿôn), formed from the root shamaʿ («to hear, to listen»). In the Greco-Byzantine tradition it took the forms Σίμων (Símōn) / Συμεών (Symeōn), and in Church Slavonic — Symeon. The biblical ancestor of the tribe of Simeon was a son of Jacob and Leah; the name was also borne by several saints, including Simeon the God-Receiver (who met Jesus at the Temple) and Saint Simeon Stylites (5th century). The Ukrainian folk form Semen is native, with the characteristic vowel reduction and hard ending. The name was borne by notable figures of Ukrainian history — among them Semen Palii, Cossack colonel and leader of the uprising on the Right Bank (17th–18th centuries).

Etymology & Roots

From Hebrew Shimʿôn (from shamaʿ — «to hear»); Greek form Symeōn / Símōn, Church-Slavonic Symeon.

International equivalents

Equivalents in other languages: Simon (English, German, French), Simone (Italian), Simón (Spanish), Simão (Portuguese), Szymon (Polish), Šimon (Czech, Slovak), Семён (Russian), Symeon (Greek), Shimon / שִׁמְעוֹן (Hebrew).

Diminutives and short forms

Семенко, Семенонько, Семеночко, Нчик, Семко, Сенько, Сень, Сеньо, Сеня, Сенечка, Сенюша, Сенюшка, Сема.

Declension (Ukrainian)

NominativeСемен
GenitiveСемена
DativeСеменові
AccusativeСемена
InstrumentalСеменом
LocativeСеменові
VocativeСемене

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