Soto Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History

Soto Surname Name Meaning, Origin, History, & Etymology
This popular Spanish name, primarily Castilian, is a habitational or topographic surname that referred to a person who was from or lived in any of several places name either Soto or El Soto, from the Spanish word soto, meaning a small wood or grove, perhaps on the bank of a river, ultimately from the Latin saltus, which referred to a pasture land containing a forest or wood. Some spelling variants or surnames with similar etymologies include Sotto, Souto (Galician equivalent), and Soito. The Asturian-Leonese spelling was Sotu, a habitational name from a village/town named Sotu in Asruties.

Popularity & Geographic Distribution
The last name Soto ranks 257^th in popularity in the United Status as of the 2000 Census. The name ranks particularly high in the following eight states: Arizona, California, New Jersey, Texas, New York, Nevada, New Mexico, and Florida. Soto ranks in the top 200 names in each of these states.

In Spain, the name ranks 88^th. In Portugal, it ranks 166^th. The surname Soto frequency/commonness ranks as follows in the Latin and South America: Mexico (50^th), Brazil (2,182^nd), Chile (6^th), Colombia (114^th), Peru (51^st), Venezuela (78^th), Argentina (92^nd), Guatemala (57^th), Costa Rica (40^th), Puerto Rico (24^th), Dominican Republic (73^rd), Cuba (87^th), Bolivia (116^th), Honduras (141^st), Panama (114^th), El Salvador (218^th), Nicaragua (255^th), Paraguay (273^rd), and Ecuador (266^th).

Soto Family Tree & Soto Genealogy

Some bearers of this surname during the time of the Middle Ages to the early modern period include:
1) Diego de Soto (born c. 1655 in New Mexico)
2) Mendez Sorred de Soto (born before 1491 AD)
3) Francisco de Soto (born between 1590-1650)
4) Agustin Diaz de Soto (born c. 1657 in San Juan, Puerto Rico)
5) Gaspar de Soto (born c. 1530 in Lorca, Spain, married Leanor Martinez)
6) Pedro de Soto (born c. 1650 in Lorca, Spain, married Juana de Mula)
7) María Demetria de Soto (born 1747 in Jalisco, Mexico)

Some marriages involving the Soto last name include:
1) Vincent Soto to Clara Wohlfahrt in Detroit, Michigan in 1921
2) Angel S. Soto to Alma Grossi in Cuyahoga County, Ohio in 1829
3) Mike Soto to Amaparo Garcia in Saginaw, Michigan in 1925
4) Merced Soto to James Kennedy in Mobile, Alabama in 1851
5) Raymond Soto to Julia Etienne in Mobile, Alabama in 1843
6) Pascual Soto to Maria Rodarte in Fresnillo, Zazatecas, Mexico in 1898
7) Juan Soto to Barbara Espinosa in Fresnillo, Zazatecas, Mexico in 1875
8) Anselmo de San Miguel Soto to Maria Cabreto Tesillo in Spain in 1827
9) Maria Antonia Soto to Francisco Martin Badillo in Valladoid, Spain in 1722
10) Josef Soto to Estefania Garcia in San Nicholas de Bari, Valladolid, Spain 1794

Maximo Soto was born sometime before 1840 in Mexico. In 1875, he married Valentina Perez, and had four children with her as follows: Ramon, Juan, Gregorio, Ruperto, and Paula. His son, Ramon Soto, was born around 1871 in San Nicolas de Tolentino, Jaral Del Progerso, Guanjuato, Mexico. He married three times: Nicolasa Juarez, Fernanda Valverde, and Florencia Adame. He had the following issue: Ramona, San Juana, Trinidad, Dolores, Fabian, Maximo, Herminia, and Maria. His daughter, Trinidad Soto, was born in Karnes County, Texas, in 1906. She married Ramon Guerra and had the following issue with him: Ventura, Antonia, Elias, Rebeca, Natividad, and Ramon.

Mariano Soto was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico in 1858. He was the father of the following children prior to his 1939 death in Texas: Ramon, Leonides, Eristea, Donato, Blas, and Sixto. One of his sons, Donato Soto, was born in Texas in 1891. In 1911 he married Mauela Palos, and had four issue with her as follows: Jose Soto Palos, Jesus Soto Palos, Marcelo Soto Palos, and Amando Soto. His son Amando was born in Skidmore, Bee, Texas in 1924. He married Maria de la Luz Carranza and had two sons with her: Juan and David Israel, both born in Texas, in 1947 and 1965, respectively.

Early American and New World Settlers
Some of the earliest known settlers in the New World bearing this surname were Antonio de Soto who came to America in 1513, Sebastian de Soto who came in 1515, Pedro de Soto who went to Peru in 1534 and Diego de Soto who went to Florida in 1538.

Several thousand members of the Soto family came to the United States through Ellis Island, during the nineteenth century, including:
1) Lenora Soto came from France in 1852 aboard the Asia
2) Andres Soto came from Spain in 1890 aboard the Ciudad Condal
3) Ramon G. Soto came from Cuba in 1888 aboard the Saratoga
4) Julian A. Soto came from Havana in 1903 aboard the Mexico
5) Niestar Soto came from Mexico in 1834 aboard the Mexican
6) Rafael Soto came from Columbia in 1832 aboard the Athenian
7) Maurillo Soto came from Nicaragua in 1877 aboard the Agnes
8) Estebon Soto came from Spain in 1889 aboard the City of Columbia
9) Isdoro R. Soto came from Puerto Rico in 1881 aboard the Br SS Bermuda
10) Florentino Soto came from Spain in 1881 aboard the City of Alexandria

Notables
There are hundreds of notable people with the Soto surname. This page will mention a handful. Famous people with this last name include:
1) Alejandro Morena Soto (1909-1995) who was a Costa Rican soccer (football) player born in Alajuela who played from 1925-1947 for several teams such as Alajuelense and Centro Gallego
2) Sesar Soto Esquivel (1971) who is a former Mexican professional boxer from Lerdo, Durango, known as “La Cobrita” who was a WBC Featherweight Champion in 1999
3) Darren Michael Soto (1978) who is an American attorney born in Ringwood, New Jersey who served in the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate, before becoming a member of the US House of Representatives from Florida’s 9^th district in 2017
4) Eddie Soto (1972) who was a US soccer player born in Artesia, California who plated from 1994-2000 and then became a manager of various teams starting in 2000
5) Felix Soto Toro (1967) who was born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico who was an electrical engineer at NASA, credited with developing the APTMS: Advanced Payload Transfer Measurement System
6) Pedro Blanco Soto (1795-1829) who was the President of Bolivia between 1828-1829
7) Marco Aurelio Soto (1846-1908) who was the President of Honduras from 1876-1883 known as a liberal and reformer, born in Tegucigalpa.
8) Hernando de Soto (1495-1542) who was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who is considered to the first European to have crossed the Mississippi river, having explored the American southeast, born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Badajoz, Extremadura
9) Iván Hernández Soto (1980) who was a former Spanish football/soccer player from Madrid who played for numerous teams from 1998-2015, such as Mocardo, Amoros, and Alcorcon.
10) Jorge Soto (1945-2011) who was a professional golfer from Merlo, Buenos Aires, Argentina who had 34 professional wins since 1963

Soto America Civil War Veterans
There were about 121 soldiers with the last name Soto who served in the American Civil War:
1) Bibian Soto fought on the Union side as part of the Battalion New Mexico Volunteers
2) Jose Dolores Soto fought on the Union side as part of the 3^rd Regiment New Mexico Mounted Infantry
3) Ilario Soto fought for the Union side as part of the 1^st Regiment Texas Cavalry
4) Vincenti Soto fought for the Confederacy as part of the 3^rd Regiment Texas Infantry
5) Crisanto Soto fought for the Union as part of the 1^st Battalion California Native Cavalry
6) Mooney H. de Soto fought for the Confederacy as part of the 28^th Regiment Mississippi Cavalry
7) John A. Soto fought for the Confederacy as part of the 3^rd Regiment Alabama Infantry
8) Antonio Soto fought for the Union as part of the 1^st Battalion California Native Cavalry
9) Jesus Soto fought for the Union as part of the 1^st Battalion California Native Cavalry
10) Juan Soto fought for the Union as part of the 1^st Battalion California Native Cavalry

Blazons & Genealogy Notes

1) Espagne – (Academia Heraldica) – D’azur à l’aigle d’or à la bordure du même ch de huit cadenas de sable l’anneau ouvert. English: Azure with an eagle or a bordure of the same charged with eight padlocks sable the rings open.
2) Castille – Écartelé au 1 d’azur à l’aigle de sable acc en chef de deux fleurs-de-lis d’or et en pointe de trois calices du même rangés en fasce au 2 d’or à trois cadenas de sable l’anneau ouvert 2 et 1 au 3 d’or à deux cadenas de sable l’anneau ouvert l’un sur l’autre au 4 d’azur à l’aigle de sable acc en pointe de deux calices accostés d’or. English: Quarterly 1st azure with an eagle sable accompanied by in chief two fleur de lys or and in base by three chalices of the same arranged fesswise 2nd or three padlocks sable the rings open 2 and 1 3rd or two padlocks sable the rings open in pale 4th azure with an eagle sable accompanied by in base by two chalices side by side or.
3) Andalousie – Parti au 1 d’azur à l’aigle d’or couronnée du même à la bordure du second ch de huit cadenas de sable l’anneau ouvert au 2 coupé a d’or à un arbre terrasse de sinople sommé d’un oiseau de sable b d’argent à la bande de gueules. English: Per pale 1st azure with an eagle or crowned of the same a bordure of the second charged with eight padlocks sable the rings open 2nd per fess a) or with a tree covered mount vert surmounted by a bird sable b) argent a bend gules.