Sonya
Girl nameSonya has been given to 65,954 babies in the U.S. since 1905. It peaked in 1967.
Meaning & origin
Borrowed from Russian and Ukrainian Со́ня (Sónja), an informal pet form of Со́фья (Sófʹja), Софі́я (Sofíja) or Софи́я (Sofíja, “Sofia, Sophia”), from the Ancient Greek σοφία (sophía, “wisdom”). It was introduced into English through 19th century Russian literature and taken into general use in early twentieth century.
Origin: ru:Соня
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
65,954
Peak year
1967 (2,987 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1905
10-year trend
▼ -39%
Gender split
100% girls / 0% boys
Famous people named Sonya
Sonya Walger
British-American actress
Sonya Yoncheva
Bulgarian opera singer
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Sonya.
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