Sovereign

See also: sovereign

English

Etymology 1

Noun

Sovereign

1. The title of a monarch.
   • 1832 April 11, “Parliamentary Reform—Bill for England—Second reading—Third Day—Debate again Adjourned—Discussion as to fixing the Day for the Committee”, in parliamentary debates, page 285:

     To the security of the Protestant interests—to the security of the Protestant Church—it is not only our duty, as Members of the British Parliament, to pay particular attention, but, it is also the particular duty of the Sovereign himself.

2. God, the supreme being who has power over all creation.
   • 1707, Isaac Watts, “Godly Sorrow ariſing from the Sufferings of Chriſt”, in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, London: J. Humfreys, page 86:

     Alas! and did my Saviour bleed? / And did my Sovereign dye?

   • 1795, Elizabeth Scott, “Prayer in Sickneſs”, in Jeremy Belknap, editor, Sacred poetry consisting of psalms and hymns, adapted to Christian devotion, in public and private. Selected from the beſt Authors, with variations and additions, Boston: Joseph Belknap:

     My Sov'reign, to thy throne, / With humble hope I preſs, / O bow thine ear to hear the groan / Of indigent diſtreſs.

   • 2020, Dave Fournier, Ryan Foglesong (lyrics and music), “All of Our Tomorrows”‎^[1]Sovereign Grace Music:

     We trust You, Sovereign of our years / With all of our tomorrows

Etymology 2

Americanized form of an unidentified German surname.

Proper noun

Sovereign (plural Sovereigns)

1. A surname from German.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Sovereign is the 41426^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 525 individuals. Sovereign is most common among White (95.05%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Sovereign”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.