Sonny

Where Sonny comes from

The dictionaries list Sonny as a given name — a male given name from English — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • English
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1888
    First appearance
    #815 among boys, 7 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1930
    Sonny Liston born
    American boxer
  3. 1985
    Sonny Bill Williams born
    New Zealand rugby league and rugby union player, and heavyweight boxer
  4. 2025
    Peak, #298
    1,137 babies named Sonny — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from English.
  • A diminutive of the female given name Sonia.
Namesakes
  • Sonny Liston · American boxer, 1930–1970
  • Sonny Bill Williams · New Zealand rugby league and rugby union player, and heavyweight boxer, born 1985
  • Sonny Perdue · American politician, born 1946
  • Sonny Terry · American Piedmont blues musician, 1911–1986
  • Sonny Colbrelli · Italian cyclist, born 1990

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.