Solis
A common Hispanic surname that likely began as a place name, and in some traditions may also echo the Latin word for “sun.”
The #388 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 3,758 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Solis is most likely a Spanish surname formed from a place name, especially in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world. Some older writers also linked it to Latin sol, meaning “sun,” but that explanation is less secure for the surname as a whole. In a few sources it is treated as a habitational name, and in Spanish place-names Solis can be associated with a locality rather than a directly descriptive nickname.
History
The surname is well established in Spain and later spread widely across Latin America and into the United States through migration. Historical surname writers sometimes offered more than one explanation, including a French place-name source or a connection with the sun, which shows that the name’s origin was not always viewed as straightforward. In modern usage it is especially familiar as a Hispanic family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Spanish spelling normally marks stress with an accent, the form Solís is common in Spanish, but the accent is often dropped in English-language records as Solis.
From the historical record
“Our ]Mr. Paradise did not venture on the Eden of matrimony without making a mar- riage settlement, duly recorded (L.653, f. 284). We have also Soil (Latin for sun); Mond (German for moon); Moon, Moone, Starr, Starrs, and Star. Mr. Solis jorefers the genitive case. We have also Cloud. The attorney-general of Iowa is…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom