Soleil
A feminine French name meaning "sun" or "sunshine".
Name Census estimates that about 4,742 living Americans carry the first name Soleil. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Soleil today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Soleil births was 2024 (341 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Soleil. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Soleil with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Soleil is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.7K
~ 1 in 72,281 Americans
Peak year
2024
341 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#824
Tracked since 1981
Census
Soleil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,340 people with the first name Soleil, which placed it at #5,207 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,207
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,340 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
36.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Soleil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Soleil is Hispanic at 36.8%. The next largest groups are White (29.1%) and Black (18.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Soleil 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Soleil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino36.8% · 1,229
- White29.1% · 972
- Black or African American18.4% · 615
- Two or more races10.7% · 359
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 147
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Soleil
Out of the 4,797 babies given the name Soleil since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Soleil as a male name
- Ranked #8,847 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (9 births)
Soleil as a female name
- Ranked #824 in 2024
- 332 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (332 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Soleil leans strongly female. 3,267 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 67 male bearers (2.0%).
Popularity
Soleil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Soleil from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,642 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Soleil by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Soleil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Soleils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Soleil, while Utah, New Mexico, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 127 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Soleil
The name Soleil is of French origin, derived from the French word "soleil" which means "sun." This name has been in use since at least the 16th century and is believed to have been initially used as a nickname for someone who was considered to be particularly bright or radiant, much like the sun.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Soleil can be found in the writings of the French philosopher and essayist Michel de Montaigne, who lived from 1533 to 1592. In his famous work "Essays," Montaigne mentions a woman named Soleil, though little is known about her beyond this reference.
In the 17th century, the name Soleil gained some popularity among the French nobility. One notable figure from this time was Soleil de la Boissière (1641-1718), a French noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to the famous mistress of King Louis XIV, Madame de Montespan.
The 18th century saw the birth of Soleil Sicard (1742-1809), a French educator and pioneer in the education of the deaf. Sicard was instrumental in developing and promoting the use of sign language in teaching deaf students, and his work laid the foundation for many modern methods of deaf education.
In the 19th century, Soleil Prunières (1837-1907) was a French writer and journalist who was known for her advocacy of women's rights and her support for the French Revolution of 1848.
Moving into the 20th century, Soleil Moon Frye (born in 1976) is an American actress best known for her role as Punky Brewster in the popular 1980s sitcom of the same name. Frye's unique first name, which combines the French word for "sun" with the English word for the celestial body, has helped to keep the name Soleil in the public consciousness.
While the name Soleil has never been exceptionally common, it has maintained a certain level of popularity throughout its history, particularly in French-speaking regions. Its association with the sun and its radiant connotations have made it an appealing choice for parents seeking a name that evokes warmth, brightness, and positivity.
People
Soleil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Soleil as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Soleil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Soleil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,742 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Soleil going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 72,281 US residents.
Is Soleil a common name?
We classify Soleil as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,797 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Soleil most popular?
The single biggest year for Soleil was 2024, when 341 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Soleil is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Soleil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,340 people with the name Soleil, or 1.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,207 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Soleil in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Soleil?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Soleil leans strongly female. 3,267 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 67 male bearers (2.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Soleil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Soleil is Hispanic at 36.8%. The next largest groups are White (29.1%) and Black (18.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Soleil most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Soleil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.8% (1,229 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Soleil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Soleil a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Soleil in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Soleil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Soleil in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Soleil can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Soleil?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.