Shem Tov UnisexOrigin: HebrewIn Israel: steady
SimchaIn Hebrew: שמחה · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: שִׂמְחָהRomanization: simkhá
Simcha (Hebrew: שמחה) is a unisex name of Hebrew origin. 11,528 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 20 girls and ranked #480. Its peak year was 1993, with 295 babies.
- People in Israel
- 11,528
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 20
- rank #480
- Peak year
- 1993
- 295 babies
- USA, 2025
- 5
- rank #14,942
Writing and saying Simcha
In Hebrew letters the name is שמחה, read right to left. Simcha is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms. Wiktionary romanizes it as "simkhá" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).
Meaning and origin
- a male or female given name, equivalent to English Simcha
Compare Ugaritic 𐎌𐎎𐎃𐎚 (šmḫt, “joy”).
Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.
Simcha by year: Israel and abroad
How many girls out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Simcha in English-speaking countries
| Country / region | Year | Babies | Rank | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | 5 | #14,942 | 2002 (12) |
Counts for girls. The Hebrew page for Simcha has every year and the other spellings.
Related Israeli names
Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.
Questions about Simcha
How do you write Simcha in Hebrew?
Simcha is written שמחה in Hebrew (with vowel points: שִׂמְחָה). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "simkhá".
How many people in Israel are named Simcha?
11,528 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name שמחה: 6,522 women and 5,006 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Simcha a boy's or a girl's name?
Both. In Israel 57% of the people named שמחה are women and 43% are men, so we count it as unisex (our threshold: at least 20% of the less common sex).
What does the name Simcha mean?
English Wiktionary describes it as: "a male or female given name, equivalent to English Simcha" Etymology: Compare Ugaritic 𐎌𐎎𐎃𐎚 (šmḫt, “joy”).
Is Simcha used outside Israel?
The name Simcha appears in the official baby name lists of English-speaking countries. In the United States 5 girls were given it in 2025 (#14,942), per the Social Security Administration.
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.
Abroad
- United States: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications - National Data
Years 1880–2025 · updated 2026-04-13 · licence: Public domain (U.S. Government work) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published - England and Wales: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996
Years 1996–2025 · updated 2026-07 · licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · names given to fewer than 3 babies a year are not published - Quebec: Retraite Québec
Banque de prénoms (filles, garçons)
Years 1980–2025 · updated 2026-06-18 · licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published
Counts are copied as published. We only merged accented spellings (Zoë = Zoe) and computed ranks and rates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia and the Open Government Licence – Alberta.