Explore the Family Name Sol

The meaning of Sol

1. Spanish and Portuguese: from the female personal name Sol, from sol ‘sun’, also used as a short form of the Marian name María del Sol ‘Mary of the Sun’; or perhaps a nickname for someone with a cheerful disposition, from the same word. This name was also frequent among Jews in Spain. Compare Del Sol 1. 2. Catalan and French (Occitan): nickname from Catalan, Occitan sol ‘calm’. 3. Catalan (Sòl) and French (Occitan): topographic name from the communal threshing floor (Catalan sòl, Occitan sol)’, or a habitational name from any of the places called Sòl in Catalonia (Spain), or (Le) Sol in southern France, e.g. in Cantal and Lot. Compare Del Sol 2. 4. Dutch and Flemish: perhaps a topographic name from Dutch sol ‘pit filled with water’. 5. Jewish (from Poland; Sól): metonymic occupational name for a salt merchant, from Polish sól ‘salt’. Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Jose, Margarita, Mauricio, Miguel, Aida, Carlos, Elena, Ernesto, Fernando, Javier, Jose Ricardo, Manuel. Portuguese Joao.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Sol in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Sol has seen a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of this surname jumped from 27,802 to 24,112, marking a 13.27% change. In terms of count, the number of people carrying the Sol surname also saw a considerable rise from 814 to 1,044. This represents a 28.26% increase. The proportion of individuals with the last name Sol per 100,000 people increased by 16.67%, moving from 0.3 to 0.35.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#27,802	#24,112	13.27%
Count	814	1,044	28.26%
Proportion per 100k	0.3	0.35	16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sol

In relation to the ethnic identity associated with the surname Sol, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows some shifts between 2000 and 2010. While the percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander remained relatively stable, there was a decrease in the representation of those claiming two or more races, White, and American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnicities. In contrast, there was an increase among those identifying as Hispanic and Black. The largest growth was observed within the Hispanic ethnicity, which went from 31.45% to 35.06%. Similarly, the Black ethnicity group saw an increase from 13.39% to 15.04%.

	2000	2010	Change
Hispanic	31.45%	35.06%	11.48%
White	30.34%	26.63%	-12.23%
Asian/Pacific Islander	21.13%	21.17%	0.19%
Black	13.39%	15.04%	12.32%
Two or More Races	2.33%	1.15%	-50.64%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.35%	0.96%	-28.89%