girl's name
Ximena
hee-MAY-na
- Origin Spanish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 39,846
the United States
#183
2025 births
Ximena is a girl's name of Spanish origin whose meaning is unresolved. It is the feminine of Simon in one reading and of Basque origin in another, and the X is pronounced as an H or an S depending on where you are.
- Ximena is a name of Spanish origin.
- Peaked in 2016, when 2,686 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,966 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1966.
Ximena over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 |
| 1970s | 56 |
| 1980s | 89 |
| 1990s | 385 |
| 2000s | 6,801 |
| 2010s | 21,039 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 11,294 |
What Ximena means
Ximena has no settled meaning. If it is the feminine of Simon it means one who hears, from the Hebrew shama; the competing Basque derivation gives son or heir, and neither is proven.
Where Ximena comes from
Ximena is the medieval Spanish form of Jimena, and its origin is genuinely argued. One account makes it the feminine of Simon, from the Hebrew Shimon, one who hears. The other traces it to the Basque Semeno, from seme, son. Jimena Díaz was the wife of El Cid, which fixes the name in eleventh-century Castile. The X spelling preserves medieval Spanish orthography, where X represented a sh sound that later became the modern Spanish j — which is why Mexico and México are the same word.
Ximena in use
Our data shows Ximena peaking in 2016 and still rising, and it first appears in our records in 1966. Its American use tracks Mexican naming closely, and it is one of very few names on this site beginning with X — a letter that accounts for a vanishingly small share of given names in either market.
How popular is Ximena?
In 2025, Ximena was given to 1,686 babies in the United States, ranking #183 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Ximena is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Ximena
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ximena also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ximena over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Ximena
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Ximena in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Ximena
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ximena — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ximena
What does the name Ximena mean?
The meaning is unresolved — either "one who hears," as a feminine of Simon, or a Basque name meaning son or heir.
How do you pronounce Ximena?
hee-MAY-na. The X preserves medieval Spanish spelling, where it stood for a sound that became the modern j.
Is Ximena the same as Jimena?
Yes — the same name in older and modern Spanish spelling, like México and Mejico.
How popular is the name Ximena?
In 2025, Ximena was given to 1,686 babies in the United States, ranking #183 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Ximena a girl's or a boy's name?
Ximena is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Ximena most popular?
Ximena peaked in 2016, when 2,686 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Ximena?
Ximena is usually shortened to Mena.
Is Ximena a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ximena currently ranks #183 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.