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The word soma from the verbal root sU, to press, means something which is pressed out; and was originally applied to a particular drink of great ritual value to the vedic (and avestan) people. The process involved collecting the plant from mountains under the full moon, pressing it using rocks and then straining it to let it fill a container in shining milky drops; and, for reasons lost today, both the word for the pressed liquid (soma) and the drops (indu, from a possible connection to ind/und, to drop) got associated with the moon, so much so that in later Sanskrit, soma and indu primarily mean the moon.

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Having a character like soma, i.e., calm and bright, was considered ideal for the upper caste; the ritual power (brightness) was always supposed to be moderated by the peaceful nature. They were, therefore, properly honored by the address of soma/somya/soumya (`like soma'), and somila probably means the same. saumila would be an adjective or patronymic from that, but we find somila, saumila, saumilla, and various other forms being used interchangeably, and as names for at least a thousand years (i.e. this particular form, the concept of naming people after soma goes back to the vedic period), in both Hindu and Buddhist societies.