The authors agree that this surname derives from the personal name Simone (also Simeone), which goes back —through the Latin forms Simon and Simeon and the Greek Símōn and Symeόn— to the Hebrew name Šimʽōn, linked to the verb šamáʽ ("to hear"), with the original meaning of "God has heard," in reference to parents who prayed to have a child.

E. De Felice notes that the surname is of pan-Italian distribution and frequent. He details regional variants: the Venetan form Simione, the Sicilian Scimone and Scimuni, and forms in Sci- proper to the south of Calabria and Sicily. The patronymics with De are characteristic of the south of Italy, the Slavic suffix in -ič appears in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Simeoni predominates in the north-east and Simeone in the south. The forms Simioni, Simonassi, Simonato and Mioni are proper to the north-east of Italy, in the regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige. The abbreviated forms Monelli, Monetti and Monini may also admit other explanations, and Mioni or Mion could be alterations of Méo.

F. De Laurentiis agrees on the etymology and adds that both Simone and Simeone are names linked to the ecclesiastical tradition, and highlights that from the first derives the feminine Simona with its diminutive Simonetta.