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

Soto, 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 Soto surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Soto in America

Soto is the 191st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Soto surname appeared 144,451 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 49 people would have the surname Soto.

We can also compare 2010 data for Soto 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 Soto

The surname Soto has its origins in Spain and dates back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "soto," which means a grove or thicket of trees. The name likely originated in northern Spain, where such wooded areas were common.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Soto appears in the Becerro de las Behetrías, a medieval document from the 14th century that listed the names of landowners and their properties in the region of Castile. This suggests that the name was already well-established by that time.

Another notable historical reference to the name Soto is found in the Libro de la Montería, a hunting treatise written in the late 13th century during the reign of King Alfonso XI of Castile. The book mentions several places with the name "Soto," indicating that the name was associated with specific locations.

The earliest known bearer of the surname Soto was Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer and conquistador born in 1496 in Villanueva de la Serena, Extremadura. He is famous for leading the first European expedition to explore the present-day southeastern United States, including the Mississippi River.

Another notable figure with the surname Soto was Domingo de Soto, a 16th-century Dominican friar and theologian born in Segovia, Spain, in 1494. He was a prominent member of the School of Salamanca and made significant contributions to the field of economics and moral philosophy.

In the realm of literature, the Spanish poet and playwright Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio, born in 1562, is believed to have had ancestors with the surname Soto. His plays and poems were highly influential during the Spanish Golden Age.

Moving to the New World, Hernando de Soto's expedition through the southeastern United States in the 16th century led to the establishment of several place names derived from his surname, such as Soto County in Arkansas and Soto Prairie in Illinois.

In the 20th century, the Mexican-American author and activist Gloria E. Anzaldúa, born in 1942 in Hargill, Texas, used the surname Soto as part of her pen name. Her influential works explored issues of identity, feminism, and the Chicano experience.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Soto

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

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

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

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