Sion - Zion

The two place-names (used literally and figuratively) Sion and Zion have the same denotation. They are different transliterations of the Hebrew צִיּוֹן (Tsiyyon), and both are pronounced with the voiced consonant 'z-', IPA: /ˈzaɪ ɒn/. There is no reason to prefer one English spelling over the other, except perhaps for some the fact that the Authorized Version uses 'Sion', and for others the fact that 'Zion' is still a recognized topographical name in Israel.

'Zion' began as the name of a Jebusite fortress captured by David. 'Zion' was then applied to the hill on which the fortress stood - Mount Zion. (That name is now applied to a different hill, still within the city of Jerusalem.) By a process of using a part to mean the whole (Synecdoche), Zion has become a name for the whole of Jerusalem, and even, as in the name of the political movement Zionism, a name for the nation of which Jerusalem is the capital (currently Israel, and previously Palestine, Judah, Judea, Judaea etc). Then it became used figuratively to denote larger units, such as the Jewish people; the household of God; heaven, or the afterlife; the Christian church, or a sect thereof. It often indicates an ideal state, such as 'the new Jerusalem'.

A house in west London, owned by the Percy family, including the Dukes of Northumberland, since 1594, is called Syon House. It was built on the lands of Syon Abbey, a nunnery closed in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.It had been founded in 1415. Syon Lane and Syon Park share the spelling, as they owe their names to the convent.

Daughters of Zion is a phrase used to mean the Jewish people, or, more limitedly, Jerusalem. The term was later used figuratively, for example among American slaves. Zion is also to be found among church names.