2000
#12,716
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,230
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.83
Rare Last name
Soliman
A variant of Solomon, derived from the Hebrew name Shelomoh, meaning "peace."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,058 Americans carry the last name Soliman. That puts it at #6,208 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.77 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 56,579 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Soliman surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Soliman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.1K
1 in 56,579
Census rank
#6,208
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,283 bearers of the surname Soliman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.77 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6208th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Soliman, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%) and Hispanic (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Soliman
The surname Soliman has its origins in the Arabic and Persian name 'Sulayman', which is derived from the Semitic root 'slm' meaning 'peace'. It is the Arabic variation of the biblical name Solomon. The name first appeared in Muslim-ruled regions of the Middle East and North Africa during the medieval period.
Soliman is believed to have spread across Europe through the Ottoman Empire, particularly during the 16th and 17th centuries when the Ottomans controlled much of the Balkans and parts of Central Europe. Early records of the name can be found in regions that were once under Ottoman rule, such as parts of modern-day Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Soliman is found in the 14th century Ottoman chronicles, where it refers to Sultan Suleyman I, also known as Suleyman the Magnificent (1494-1566), the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. His reign saw the empire reaching its peak in terms of territorial expansion and cultural achievements.
Another notable bearer of the name was Soliman the Magnificent's grandson, Sultan Ahmed I (1590-1617), who ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. During his reign, the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul was constructed.
In the 18th century, a French adventurer and writer named Soliman Aga (1720-1796) became famous for his travels and writings about the Middle East and North Africa. His real name was Nicholas Aga, but he adopted the name Soliman upon his conversion to Islam.
In the 19th century, Soliman Pasha (1788-1860) was an Ottoman statesman and military leader who served as the Governor of the Eyalet of Sidon (modern-day Lebanon) and played a crucial role in the Ottoman–Egyptian conflict.
More recently, Soliman Hatem (1922-2017) was an Egyptian diplomat and politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Soliman
Among Census respondents with the surname Soliman, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%) and Hispanic (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Soliman bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Soliman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.4% · 4,037
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.6% · 614
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 274
- Two or more races4.1% · 218
- Black or African American2.6% · 136
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Soliman
Soliman appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#10,099
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,189
+959 bearers (+43.0%)
Per 100,000 1.08
Rank movement Up 2,617 places
2020
#6,208
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,283
+2,094 bearers (+65.7%)
Per 100,000 1.77
Rank movement Up 3,891 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,716 | 2,230 | 0.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,099 | 3,189 | 1.08 | +959 bearers (+43.0%) | Up 2,617 places |
| 2020 | #6,208 | 5,283 | 1.77 | +2,094 bearers (+65.7%) | Up 3,891 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Soliman surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #10,099 | #6,208 | 38.5% |
| Count | 3,189 | 5,283 | 65.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.08 | 1.77 | 63.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Soliman bearers went from 3,189 to 5,283 (+65.7% change). The surname moved up 3,891 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,099 to #6,208.
FAQ
Soliman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Soliman?
Name Census estimates that about 6,058 living Americans carry the surname Soliman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 56,579 residents.
How common is Soliman?
Soliman ranks #6,208 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.77 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,283 people with the surname Soliman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,058), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.77 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.77 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Soliman.
Has Soliman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Soliman went from 3,189 recorded bearers to 5,283. That is an increase of 2,094 (+65.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,099 to #6,208.
What does the Census say about the background of Soliman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Soliman, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%) and Hispanic (5.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Soliman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.4% (4,037 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Soliman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (76.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%), Hispanic (5.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Soliman (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Soliman mean?
A variant of Solomon, derived from the Hebrew name Shelomoh, meaning "peace." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Soliman (1.77 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Soliman?
See how common the surname Soliman is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.