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

Soos, 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 Soos surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Soos in America

Soos is the 25356th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Soos surname appeared 976 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 Soos.

We can also compare 2010 data for Soos 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 Soos

The surname SOOS is believed to have originated in Hungary, with records dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Hungarian word "sos," meaning "salty" or "salted." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who worked with salt or lived near a salt source.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SOOS appears in a document from 1275 in the town of Sopron, near the Austrian border. The document mentions a landowner named "Petrus dictus Soos" (Peter called Soos). This indicates that SOOS was likely used as a descriptive nickname before becoming a hereditary surname.

In the 15th century, the SOOS family held significant land and influence in the Szabolcs region of northeastern Hungary. A nobleman named Mihály SOOS (Michael SOOS, born c. 1420) was a prominent figure in the court of King Matthias Corvinus and served as the royal chamberlain.

During the Ottoman conquest of Hungary in the 16th and 17th centuries, many SOOS families fled westward to avoid persecution. Some settled in Slovakia, where the name was sometimes spelled as "Sos" or "Sooss." A notable individual from this period was Juraj SOOS (George SOOS, 1548-1618), a Protestant reformer and writer who published religious texts in the Slovak language.

In the 18th century, the SOOS surname spread further across Europe as Hungarian nobles and soldiers migrated to other regions. One such figure was János SOOS (John SOOS, 1734-1809), a military officer who served in the Austrian army during the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the title of Baron for his service.

As the name SOOS became more widespread, it also appeared in various artistic and literary works. For example, the Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi (1823-1849) included a character named SOOS in his epic poem "János Vitéz" (John the Valiant), which tells the story of a Hungarian soldier's heroic exploits.

While the SOOS surname has its roots in Hungary, it has since been adopted by families in other parts of the world, including North America and Australia. However, the name remains most prevalent in Hungary, Slovakia, and other Central European regions with historical ties to the Hungarian Kingdom.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Soos

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

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

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

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