This unusual and interesting name has two possible origins, the first of which is an Anglo-Saxon topographical surname denoting someone who lived in or near a muddy place. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "sol", meaning "mud", or a wallowing place for animals. The surname in some forms can also be locational, from a place named with "sol", such as "Soals", in Kent. The second origin is French from the Middle English and Olde French word "sol" or "soul" meaning "sole", "lonely" and applied as a nickname for a single, unmarried man, as in Osbert le Sol (1274, Essex). The modern surname can be found as Sole, Soal, Soall and Soles. Rebecca Soal was married to Thomas Washbourne on the 8th November 1790 at St. Leonards, Shoreditch in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de la Sole, which was dated 1207, The Sussex Curia Rolls, during the reign of King John "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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