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

Soule, 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 Soule surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Soule in America

Soule is the 5460th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Soule surname appeared 6,372 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Soule.

We can also compare 2010 data for Soule 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 Soule

The surname Soule originates from the Normandy region of France, with records dating back to the 11th century. It is derived from the Old French word "soule," which means "sun" or "sunny." It is believed that the name was initially given as a nickname to someone with a sunny disposition or someone who had a sunny complexion.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Soule surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Soules." This was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The name is thought to have been introduced to England by Norman settlers during this period.

In the 12th century, the surname Soule can be found in various records from the Normandy region of France, such as charters and land grants. One notable figure from this time was Robert Soule, who was a landowner in the village of Villebadin in the late 1100s.

As the name spread across Europe, it took on various spellings, including Soules, Soulis, and Soulles. In Scotland, there is a record of a family named Soulis who held lands in the Scottish Borders region in the 13th century. This family was influential in the region and was involved in various conflicts and battles during that time.

In the 14th century, the Soule surname began appearing in records from England, particularly in the counties of Devon and Cornwall. One famous bearer of the name was Sir John Soule, a knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War against France in the mid-1300s.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Soule name continued to spread across Europe and eventually to the Americas. One notable figure was George Soule, who was a passenger on the Mayflower and one of the original Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Other notable individuals with the Soule surname include:

1. Nathaniel Soule (1670-1745), an American lawyer and judge who served as a justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.
2. Silas Soule (1838-1865), an American soldier who served in the American Civil War and was killed for his role in exposing the Sand Creek Massacre.
3. Caroline Soule (1819-1903), an American educator and author who founded several schools for women in the mid-19th century.
4. Charles Soule (born 1975), an American comic book writer and novelist known for his work on various Marvel and DC Comics titles.
5. Ella Soule (1859-1942), an American artist known for her landscape paintings and her association with the Hudson River School of painters.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Soule

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Soule, 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!