The name 'Soroptimist' is derived from the Latin 'soror' meaning sister and 'optima' meaning best. It can thus be interpreted as 'the best for women'. Globally, the first club was formed in California in the USA in 1921. Now one can go anywhere in the world to find a Soroptimist as the organisation is represented by some 95 000 members in more than 3 000 clubs in over 120 countries.