Semaan

Semaan (Syriac Aramaic: ܫܡܥܘܢ ''Šemʿōn'' ; , ''Semʻān'') (also spelled Sem'an, Semán, Simaan, Sim'an, Samaan, Sam'an, Sima'an) is a Christian surname mainly found in the Levant area of the Middle East. It is derived from the Semitic root word/verb ''sema'' or ''shema'', which means “to hear”; thus, the meaning of ''Semaan'' becomes “the one who hears or listens” in both Syriac Aramaic and Arabic. Its equivalent in Hebrew is (''Shimon'' or ''Shim'on''), which also has the same meaning. The Greek transliteration is (''Simon'') or (''Symeon''), and, when Latinized, it becomes ''Simon'' or ''Simeon''.

In the Middle East today, the overwhelming majority of people who hold the Semaan surname are Christians who belong to early Christian churches such as the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Antioch, the Maronite Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Assyrian Orthodox Church, and the Coptic Orthodox Church. The ethnic origin of Semaan families varies by geographic location, most prevalent of which is Greek-Syrian, descendants of the Byzantine Greek (Rûm) population of the Syrian tetrapolis (Antioch, Seleucia Pieria, Apamea, and Laodicea). Provided by Wikipedia