Explore the Family Name Somes

The meaning of Somes

English: habitational name, with post-medieval excrescent -s, from Saham Toney (Norfolk), Earl and Monk Soham (Suffolk), or Soham (Cambridgeshire), and perhaps also Siam Hall near Newton (Suffolk), all of which share the same etymology (‘lake estate’, Old English sǣ ‘sea, lake’ + hām ‘village, homestead, estate’).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname "Somes" has seen a decrease in popularity from the year 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked 36,189 in popularity and dropped to 40,204 by 2010, an overall change of -11.09%. The count of individuals with this surname also saw a reduction from 585 to 545 during this period, marking a -6.84% change. Consequently, its proportion per 100,000 people decreased by -18.18%, moving from 0.22 to 0.18.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#36,189	#40,204	-11.09%
Count	585	545	-6.84%
Proportion per 100k	0.22	0.18	-18.18%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Somes

The Decennial U.S. Census also provides data about the ethnic identity associated with the surname "Somes". In 2000, the predominant ethnicity was White, accounting for 89.23%, which slightly dropped to 88.62% by 2010. The percentage of those identified as Black showed a significant decrease from 3.08% to 2.02%. The representation of Hispanic increased by 7.3%, while the percentage of those identifying as two or more races declined by 17.57%. Interestingly, there's an emergence of Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native affiliations in 2010, not represented in the previous census.

	2000	2010	Change
White	89.23%	88.62%	-0.68%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	3.12%	0%
Hispanic	2.74%	2.94%	7.3%
Black	3.08%	2.02%	-34.42%
Two or More Races	2.22%	1.83%	-17.57%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.47%	0%