Find out how popular the last name Soba is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Soba.

Soba, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Soba surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Soba in America

Soba is the 90853rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Soba surname appeared 203 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Soba.

We can also compare 2010 data for Soba to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Soba

The surname Soba is believed to have originated in Poland during the late 15th century. It is thought to be derived from the Polish word 'sob', which means 'beaver', and may have initially been an occupational surname for someone who hunted or traded in beaver furs. The earliest known recording of the name appears in a manuscript from the town of Krakow, dated 1487, where a merchant named Jakub Soba is mentioned.

In the 16th century, the Soba name began to spread across other parts of Eastern Europe, particularly in areas with large Polish communities. There are records of individuals with the Soba surname living in the towns of Lviv (now in Ukraine) and Vilnius (now in Lithuania) during this time period.

One of the earliest notable bearers of the Soba name was Jan Soba, a Polish nobleman and military commander who lived from 1550 to 1628. He served as a captain in the Polish army and was known for his bravery in battles against the Ottoman Empire.

The Soba name also appeared in the Byelorussian Chronicles, a collection of historical manuscripts from the 16th and 17th centuries. These chronicles mention a Byelorussian family with the surname Soba who were landowners in the town of Polotsk.

In the 18th century, a German branch of the Soba family emerged, likely descended from Polish immigrants who settled in areas such as Prussia and Silesia. One notable member of this branch was Johann Soba (1722-1798), a scholar and professor of philosophy at the University of Königsberg.

Another significant figure with the Soba surname was Franciszek Soba (1802-1876), a Polish poet and writer who was part of the Romantic literary movement. He is best known for his collection of poems titled "Echoes from the Past", which celebrated Polish history and culture.

As the Soba name spread across Europe, it also took on various spelling variations, such as Sobach, Sobiak, and Sobczak, reflecting regional differences in pronunciation and language.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Soba

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Soba.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Soba was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Soba has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Soba was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Soba, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!