Sole
The Italian name meaning "sun", derived from the Latin word "sol".
Name Census estimates that about 535 living Americans carry the first name Sole. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sole today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sole births was 2000 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sole. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sole with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
535
~ 1 in 640,662 Americans
Peak year
2000
46 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,193
Tracked since 1999
Census
Sole in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 567 people with the first name Sole, which placed it at #18,871 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,871
National first-name rank
People counted
567
567 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
39.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sole
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sole is Black at 39.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.2%) and White (19.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sole described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sole at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American39.5% · 224
- Hispanic or Latino31.2% · 177
- White19.2% · 109
- Two or more races6.5% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Sole: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sole from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 291 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sole by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sole during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Soles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Sole, while Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sole
The given name Sole has its origins in the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin word "sol," which means "sun." This name was first used in ancient Roman times and was likely given to children as a way to honor the sun, which was seen as a powerful and life-giving force.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sole can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, who lived in the 1st century AD. He mentions a Roman soldier named Sole who fought bravely in the Roman conquest of Britain.
In the Middle Ages, the name Sole was relatively uncommon, but it did appear in some historical records. One notable example is Sole de Bardis, an Italian banker who lived in the 13th century and was known for his wealth and influence in the city of Florence.
During the Renaissance period, the name Sole gained some popularity in Italy, particularly among artists and intellectuals who were inspired by the classical Roman culture. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Sole da Brescia, an Italian painter and sculptor who lived in the 15th century and was known for his works in churches and palaces throughout northern Italy.
In the 17th century, the name Sole was also used in France, where it was sometimes spelled as "Soleil." One notable figure from this time was Soleil d'Avaux, a French diplomat who played a significant role in negotiating the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648.
Another famous person with the name Sole was the Italian composer Sole Porta, who lived in the 18th century and was known for his operas and sacred works. He was widely acclaimed in his time and his music was performed throughout Europe.
While the name Sole has been relatively rare throughout history, it has been used across various cultures and time periods, often with a connection to the sun and its symbolic significance.
People
Sole + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sole as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sole: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sole?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 535 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sole going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 640,662 US residents.
Is Sole a common name?
We classify Sole as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 542 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sole most popular?
The single biggest year for Sole was 2000, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sole is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sole in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 567 people with the name Sole, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,871 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sole in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sole?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sole leans strongly female. 475 people counted with this name were female (82.8%), compared with 99 male bearers (17.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sole?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sole is Black at 39.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.2%) and White (19.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sole most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sole in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.5% (224 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sole in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sole a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sole in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sole still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sole in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sole can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Sole?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Sole at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.