Explore the Family Name Soltau

The meaning of Soltau

German: habitational name from a place so called near Hanover or Soldau in East Prussia, named with solt ‘boggy or dirty water’. Some characteristic forenames: German Dietrich, Gerd, Hans, Kurt.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Soltau saw a slight increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Soltau was ranked at 45,078 among all surnames in the United States. However, by 2010, it had risen to 44,653. The count of individuals bearing this surname also rose from 448 in 2000 to 481 in 2010, indicating a growth rate of approximately 7.37%. Nonetheless, when looking at the proportion per 100k people, there was a minor decrease from 0.17 to 0.16.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#45,078	#44,653	0.94%
Count	448	481	7.37%
Proportion per 100k	0.17	0.16	-5.88%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Soltau

In terms of ethnicity, the census data reveals some changes in the distribution of the Soltau surname across different ethnic identities between 2000 and 2010. While the percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native remained constant at 0%, there were significant shifts elsewhere. Those identifying as White fell from 80.58% to 76.30%, while those identifying as Hispanic experienced a substantial increase, from 1.12% to 2.08%. Similarly, the percentage of individuals with the Soltau surname identifying as Black grew from 13.84% to 17.46%. Individuals identifying as belonging to two or more races remained relatively stable, with a minor decrease from 3.35% to 3.33%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	80.58%	76.3%	-5.31%
Black	13.84%	17.46%	26.16%
Two or More Races	3.35%	3.33%	-0.6%
Hispanic	1.12%	2.08%	85.71%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%