What is the origin of the surname Soberano?

Answer 1

The surname, Soberano, is originally from Spain. At the time of the Inquisition

when Jews were forced to leave Spain, many of them changed their Jewish-

sounding surnames to loose interpretations that would coincide with Spanish-

sounding names in order to protect themselves from being forced to convert to Catholicism.

"Soberano" means a king, duke or head of state and was originally thought to

have been a name of Hebrew derivative, "Ben Melech", or son of the king. It

obviously refers to those of high social standing and/or royalty.

Another example of this type of surname is "Toledano" meaning a Spanish

Jew from the city of Toledo. Other surnames of this type denote occupations

or family relations as well as places of origin.

There apparently existed only one large family of Soberanos who after the

decrees of the Inquisition forcing the Jews out of Spain travelled to and settled

in Morocco. Therefore, all the Soberanos are from various towns and cities in

Morocco, except for a large population of Filipinos (the Philippines were at one

time ruled by Spain). Thus, today, all people with the surname of Soberano

are either of Spanish or Filipino background.