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

Sole, 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 Sole surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sole in America

Sole is the 18337th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sole surname appeared 1,511 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Sole.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sole 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 Sole

The surname Sole has its origins in Italy, where it first appeared in the Middle Ages, around the 12th century. It is derived from the Italian word "sole," which means "sun." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a nickname to someone with a sunny disposition or perhaps someone with a ruddy complexion.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sole can be found in a medieval document from the city of Venice, dated around 1240. This document mentions a certain "Petro Sole," who was likely a merchant or tradesman of some sort.

In the 14th century, the Sole name began to appear in other parts of Italy, particularly in the regions of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. A notable example is Bartolomeo Sole, a renowned painter from Bologna who lived from 1354 to 1420.

As the Sole family spread across Italy over the centuries, variations of the spelling emerged, such as Soli, Solli, and Solari. These variations were often influenced by local dialects and linguistic nuances.

During the Renaissance period, the Sole name gained prominence in the arts and sciences. One notable figure was Giovanni Battista Sole, an Italian mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1554 to 1634. He made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and was a contemporary of Galileo Galilei.

In the 18th century, the Sole family produced several notable military figures. One such individual was Antonio Sole, a Neapolitan general who played a crucial role in the Napoleonic Wars. He lived from 1765 to 1827.

Another prominent bearer of the Sole name was Giuseppe Sole, an Italian politician and statesman who lived from 1849 to 1909. He served as Prime Minister of Italy for a brief period in 1906.

As the Sole family continued to spread across Europe, the name found its way to other countries, including Spain, France, and even England. One notable English bearer of the name was Sir William Sole, a 17th-century merchant and diplomat who served as the English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1638 to 1644.

While the Sole name has a long and rich history, it is essential to note that this account focuses primarily on its Italian origins and does not delve into more recent genealogical data or modern census records.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sole

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

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 Sole 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 Sole 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 Sole was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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