Soleil
Feminine · Latin roots · “sun (French)”
Soleil is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 5,130 girls against 42 boys since 1880.
Soleil is the French word for the sun, worn as a name. It arrived in American records only in the last few decades and has been climbing since, still uncommon enough that most classrooms hold just one. In the mouth it is two easy syllables with a soft glide at the end — so-LAY — and the meaning needs no explaining to anyone who has taken a year of French.
How old is the name Soleil?
Soleil first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Soleil is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,100 people named Soleil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Soleil most popular?
Soleil peaked in 2025, reaching #756 nationally. Today it ranks #756, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Soleil appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Sol (Latin) to Soleil
The story of Soleil
The Latin word for the sun was sol; Late Latin softened it into the affectionate diminutive soliculus, and that form, not the plain one, is what became Old French soleil and then modern French soleil. In France the word has stayed a word: Louis XIV was called le Roi Soleil in the seventeenth century, and the noun turns up everywhere in poetry and song, but it was not traditionally handed to children as a name. Its life as a given name is an English-speaking development, recent and mostly American, part of a wider taste for luminous nouns — Aurora, Lucia, Sunny — used straight. It shows up most in California, Florida and New York, states where French and Spanish are both close at hand.
Meaning
sun (French)
Soleil is the ordinary modern French noun for the sun, descended from Latin sol by way of the Late Latin diminutive soliculus.
How the name formed
- SolLatin
- soliculusLate Latin
- soleilOld French
- Soleil
Related forms: Sol · Sol · Sol · Sole · Sol · Solana
Pronouncing Soleil
so-LAY
Stress on the second syllable, which ends in a y-glide rather than an L — the French -eil, as in the word itself. Some American speakers say SO-lay, front-stressed; both are heard. Readers unfamiliar with French spelling may try so-LEEL or SOL-ee-el on first sight.
Nicknames for Soleil
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1981
- Most girls named
- 2025358 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #756reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +7.2%358 in 2025, from 334
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Soleil in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sol in Spanish — related form
- Sol in Portuguese — related form
- Sol in Catalan — related form
- Sole in Italian — related form
- Sol in Latin — related form
- Solana in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, New York.
Soleils among us
people named Soleil are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,490 born in 2025 was named Soleil
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Barbie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Soleil's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Barbie climbed just as high around 1964, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Barbie's path sketches the road Soleil is walking now.
Soleil is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Soleil is headed
Soleil looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 26% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Soleil beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Soleil in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A meaning anyone can state in one word, and the same word in French, so it needs no translating for a French-speaking relative or teacher.
- Two syllables, six letters, no consonant clusters — quick to say and quick to write once the ending is learned.
- Sol works as a ready-made short form and is already an established name in Spanish and Jewish naming traditions.
- Rare enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate, while the underlying word is recognized worldwide.
- The -eil ending is the hurdle. Expect to say "so-LAY" often, and to see it written Soleille, Solei or Solel by people going from sound alone.
- Cirque du Soleil is the phrase most Americans know the word from, so the circus comparison will come up. It is a mild, affectionate association rather than an unkind one.
- In French the word is simply "sun" and nothing else — French speakers hear it as plainly as an English speaker hears the name Sun. Some find that charming, some find it blunt; worth knowing in advance if French is spoken in the family.
- Its wave here is very recent, so most people carrying it are children. That means little precedent among adults, and a name that reads as clearly of this moment.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Soleil to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Soleil? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Soleil
Feminine · Latin roots · #756 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Soleils are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,100 people named Soleil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Soleil in 2025?
- Soleil ranks #756 among US girl names in 2025, with 358 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Soleil?
- About 1 in every 4,490 US girls born in 2025 was named Soleil — 358 in all.
- Will my child share the name Soleil with classmates?
- Soleil will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Soleil
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lettie#756 · Kaeli#756 · Rynlee#755 · Amaris#754 · Kenna#759 · Marilyn#760 · Charley#760 · Neriah#760
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Soleil? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Soleil and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle