Sonya

Where Sonya comes from

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.
— Wiktionary's entry for Sonya
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1905
    First appearance
    #1,931 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1967
    Peak, #114
    2,980 babies named Sonya — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1974
    Sonya Walger born
    British-American actress
  4. 1977
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #193.
  5. 1981
    Sonya Yoncheva born
    Bulgarian opera singer
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Russian Соня (Sonja).
Namesakes
  • Sonya Walger · British-American actress, born 1974
  • Sonya Yoncheva · Bulgarian opera singer, born 1981
  • Sonya Smith · Venezuelan actress, born 1972
  • Sonya Eddy · American actress, 1967–2022
  • Sonya Jehan · Pakistani actress, born 1980

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.