Soul
The English word derived from French meaning the spiritual force within a person.
Name Census estimates that about 681 living Americans carry the first name Soul. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Soul today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Soul births was 2024 (108 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Soul. 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.
People living today
681
~ 1 in 503,310 Americans
Peak year
2024
108 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,329
Tracked since 2000
Gender
Gender distribution for Soul
Soul is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 686 total registrations, 402 (58.6%) were male and 284 (41.4%) were female.
Soul as a male name
- Ranked #2,329 in 2024
- 61 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (62 births)
Soul as a female name
- Ranked #3,369 in 2024
- 47 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (50 births)
Popularity
Soul: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Soul from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 458 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Soul 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 Soul during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Souls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Soul, while Virginia, Ohio, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Soul
The name Soul does not have a long or distinguished history as a given name. It is a relatively modern invention, likely arising in the 20th century as a neologism reflecting the spiritual concept of the "soul" as the essence or animating principle of a person. While the word "soul" has ancient roots in languages like Greek and Latin, it does not appear to have been used as a personal name until quite recently.
As a given name, Soul seems to be primarily an English language phenomenon, perhaps originating in the United States or other English-speaking countries. It is not derived from any particular language or cultural tradition, but rather is a direct borrowing of the common noun "soul" into use as a proper name.
There are no known references to the name Soul in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records prior to the modern era. The earliest recorded examples of the name are likely from the late 20th century, as it gained popularity as a unique and spiritually evocative name choice.
A few notable individuals named Soul include:
1. Soul Khan, a Pakistani-American filmmaker and artist born in 1976.
2. Soul Brown, an American former professional basketball player born in 1969.
3. Soul Nyx, an American drag queen and activist born in 1983.
4. Soul Rebels, an American brass band formed in New Orleans in the early 1990s.
5. Soul Sneed, an American former professional basketball player born in 1972.
While the name Soul is not common, it has gained some traction in recent decades as a distinctive and meaningful name choice for parents seeking a name with spiritual or philosophical connotations.
People
Soul + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Soul 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
Soul: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Soul?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 681 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Soul 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 503,310 US residents.
Is Soul a common name?
We classify Soul as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 686 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Soul most popular?
The single biggest year for Soul was 2024, when 108 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Soul is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Soul a male name?
Yes, 58.6% of people registered as Soul in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.