The baby name Soren is a Scandinavian import with a meaning that might surprise.
Thanks to Tracy for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
PRONUNCIATION OF THE NAME SOREN
In American English, we spell this name just plain Soren. It sounds something like soaring, without the final g.
Head to Stockholm and it becomes Sören. Continue to Copenhagen, and it becomes Søren.
Pronunciation varies slightly based on place. You can listen to two versions here and another here. The name is also heard in Norway and Germany and elsewhere in Northern Europe, but remained all-but-unknown in most parts of the English-speaking world for most of the twentieth century.
STRICT and STERN
So what is the meaning of the name Soren?
It comes, believe it or not, from the Latin Severus.
Severus is, of course, the root of the English word severe, and that tracks with the meaning: stern, strict.
The Latin Severus became Severinus and Severinius.
A handful of early saints answered to the names. There’s a bishop from Barcelona said to have been martyred under Diocletian in the 300s, and another in Naples a century later. The name continued to be used, at least within the church, for a few centuries more. Plenty of European languages have their own version of the name: Severin, Severino, Severine.
On its way north, the name lost a syllable. It became Sofren and then Soren, with other forms and spellings in between.
DANISH IMPORT
The baby name Soren appears in the US in the nineteenth century, but almost always among Scandinavian immigrants.
Inventor Søren Adam Sørensen was born in Denmark in 1879, but immigrated to New Jersey with his parents when he was just two. He’d go on to invent sneezing powder, stink bombs, and the ever-popular snake nut can … but he passed on the whoopee cushion. In America, his legal name became Soren Sorenson Adams, but he was known as Sam.
Of course, many Americans would also recognize Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Born into an affluent family, his was named for his maternal grandfather. (His older brother, Peter, had already been named for their paternal grandfather.)
A towering figure in terms of nineteenth century thought, Kierkegaard is credited with the philosophy of existentialism as we know it today.
But that’s not why the baby name Soren started to catch on.
POP CULTURE SORENS
The first name Soren might have found favor simply because we went wild for two-syllable, ends-with-N boy names in the late twentieth century, continuing into the twenty-first.
A handful of uses introduced the name to an American audience.
Dr. Tolian Soran was a villain in the 1994 film Star Trek Generations. They usually referred to the character as just Soran; Malcolm McDowell played the star-blasting bad guy.
Then along came:
- A character in the Underworld series of vampires versus werewolf films.
- 2004 romanceThe Prince and Me included a loyal servant called Soren.
- Animated children’s series Charlie and Lola includes Lola’s imaginary friend, Soren.
GUARDIANS of GA’HOOLE
And then came the owls.
Fans of Kathryn Lasky’s series will recognize the first name Soren from a barn owl, the hero of many of the 16 books in the series.
The books inspired a feature film in 2010, titled Legends of the Guardians. Lasky named her owls everything from quirky, elegant human names (Eglantine) to more predictable appellations for fictional owls (Noctus, Twilight).
Soren, of course, fits in that latter category, since it sounds so much like soaring.
BY the NUMBERS
The baby name Soren debuted in the US Top 1000 in the year 2003 at #962. That followed many years of quiet, steady gains in use. It’s also the same year The Journey was published – the first book in the Guardians of Ga’hoole series.
And the name continued to climb, reaching #509 in 2020, before retreating slightly to #537 in 2021.
Despite that slip, Soren is among the baby boy names attracting considerable attention lately. Maybe it’s the name’s cool, Scandi vibe. Or maybe it’s because we still do love two-syllable, ends-with-N boy names, but we’re looking for something different than Aiden and Mason.
Regardless, the baby name Soren is a traditional choice that hits the sweet spot: centuries of use coupled with interesting figures – from a leading thinker to a heroic, fictional owl. It’s easy to imagine parents seeking cool names embracing Soren as something just slightly different.
What do you think of the baby name Soren?
First published on May 10, 2012, this post was revised and republished on July 13, 2022.
I really like Soren. So does my husband, but he felt it wouldn’t work for our son, as we have no Scandinavian heritage. 🙁
Suren is a persian boy name with different forms.Suren, Surin and Surena.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surena
My son, Soren, just graduated from high school. We gave him two more common middle names (Andrew and Casey, his grandfathers) so he could use them if he did not like the more unusual one. He loves the name Soren. He likes the uniqueness and the ethnicity of it. He is a tall, lanky, easy-going guy though he does have a more “severus” side as well 😉
My son who will be 2 this August is Soren Jens William. Yes, 2 middle names. My husband and I both picked one. He’s the only Soren we know, people like his name and it suits him well along with his Nordic white hair and light blue eyes.
In Norway Søren is acctually used as sort of a “cuss” word, well not quite but it’s like the equivalent of damn. It’s still used as a name I think but it still makes me cringe everytime I see a little boy Søren or “Soren”.
Really? That’s fascinating … but then, I guess the same thing has happened to given names in the US, too. Little boys named Richard come to mind …
One of my all time faves; I absolutely love, love love Soren!
I knew a red-headed Soren growing up – he was probably 5 years younger than me, so born sometime in the 90s? A great kid with a lot of personality. So I’ve always had a soft spot for the name. Lovely to know it’s history!
The most famous literary Soren if you go down under is in the classic children’s fantasy The Changeover, by Margaret Mahy (a New Zealander). Soren (called “Sorry”) is a sexy teenage warlock who helps the teen heroine, a budding witch, save her little brother from a demon. It was basically Twilight in Australia in the 80s.
Very handsome name; it wouldn’t work for me, but I would adore seeing it on someone else’s son.
It almost seems like a name which honours a certain Severus Snape …. 😉
I really like the Danish spelling and pronunciation, but I know that would be hard to transfer to the USA. 🙁
I like it in the same way I like Maren for a girl. But probably wouldn’t use it because the nickname would be Sore.
Sören (or Soren) is a firm like for me. Warm, travels well, is handsome & fun. What’s not to like? Well, for starters, we’re Scots and Soren paired with our Scots surname feels kinda lopsided. 😀 Charming, but it makes my head hurt. But I would die from happiness if it mainstreamed.
I also love the link of Soren to Eglantine. Sweet, delicate Eglantine. Pretty flower, too. 😀
Eglantine is definitely one of my favourites. Too bad she begins with “eg[g]” — I can see quite a bit of teasing potential in that first syllable. Still, I love it.
I LOVE this name. I even love it on a girl. I would love to use it, even though I am not at all Scandinavian and neither is my husband.
I adore Soren. He is so handsome and fun. I love that he is a traditional name while at the same time having a modern cool feel.
I have ancestor from 16th century Norway named Syver, so Sever, Siver and Severin have been the go-to names in the my dad’s family (my uncle is Joseph Severin.) I’ve considered Soren, since it doesn’t quite scream SCANDI! like Ole, Thor and Bjorn. But my family would pronounce it SORN and hubby’s family would pronounce it ZOO-ren and I’d rather not fight the pronunciation issue.
Also makes me think of Sauron from Lord of the Rings.
I know a tween girl named Soren.
Mark suggested Soren when we were digging around for boys’ names we both liked. This time I was the one to pull the veto card. For some reason that I have yet to understand myself, it’s pretty rare that I like a name beginning with s. Furthermore, this one felt a l little too Scandinavian for our cultural heritage. Still, I’ll not be upset if Soren continues to pick up speed and edge its way closer to Jayden.
Sören (sort of pronounced ZOO-ren, but not quite) is my high school German teacher’s son’s name. I’ve always thought it was really cute!
Thanks for this sweet comment, Lauren. I was just checking something about my son’s name, since he asked.