The oldest records of our family name are in Hebrew and Russian. Both languages use the same character for the “S” and “SH” sounds. The name has been transliterated into Latin letters as Sholsky, Solsky, Solski, Sulsky and other similar variations. In the USA, it was anglicized to Saul.
David Saul’s death certificate from 1911 uses the name SHOLSKY even though he had been using the surname SAUL for many years.
Jacob Solski's matzevah shows the name in Hebrew.
According to Alexander Beider in A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire , (Avotaynu, Teaneck, NJ), the surname Solsky meant from Soly (townlet in the Oshmyany district) or a similarly named estate in the Vilkomir district. If the name was Sholsky, then it means “from the village Sholna (Vilkomir district)". As many of Solomon’s children married families from the Vilkomir district, that seems the most likely.
