Sonia is a feminine given name in many areas of the world including the West, Russia, Iran, and South Asia. Sonia and its variant spellings Sonja and Sonya are variations on Sophia, a Greek name meaning "wisdom". The name was popularised by a 1917 bestselling novel, Sonia: Between Two Worlds, by Stephen McKenna.
Sonya and its variations are occasionally found as surnames in England and the American eastern seaboard.
The name appears in multiple languages including Assyrian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Croatian, Danish, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, and Ukrainian.
Sonia has many variant spellings and related name forms, among them Sonea, Sonja, Sonje, Sonni, Sonnie, Sonnjea, and Sonya. Scandinavian countries spell the name with the letter j: Sonja, while many English speaking countries spell it with i or y: Sonia or Sonya.
Although the most common English pronunciation is /ˈsɒniə/, /ˈsɒnjə/, /ˈsoʊniə/, and /ˈsoʊnjə/ are also possible.
Sonya is an uncommon surname of English origin. Spelling variations include Sonning, Sonnin, Sonin, Soning, Sunning, Sunin, Souning, Sounin, Sonninges, Somin and Somings. The surname Sonya was first located in Berkshire where they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor. Some of the first American settlers named Sonya or some of its variants migrated in the mid-17th century to the eastern seaboard. Migrants eventually settled in Newfoundland, Maine, Virginia, The Carolinas and the islands.
Sonja, Queen of Norway
Sonia (Sonia Evans), English pop singer
SONiA (Sonia Rutstein), American singer-songwriter
Sonia, alias of Omaira Rojas Cabrera, FARC-EP guerrilla member
Sonja Bakić, Serbian pop/rock singer
Sônia Braga, Brazilian actress
Sonja Christopher, reality television star
Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress
Sonya Hartnett, Australian writer
Sonja Henie (1912-1969), Norwegian figure skater and actress
Sonia Holleyman, creator, author and illustrator of Mona the Vampire.
Sonia de Ignacio, Spanish field hockey player
Sonja Lang, Canadian linguist
Sonja Morgan, Reality TV actress Real Housewives of New York City
Sonia McMahon (1932-2010), Australian socialite, widow of William McMahon
Sonia O'Sullivan, Irish athlete
Sonia Rykiel, French designer
Sonya Scarlet, Singer of Italian band Theatres des Vampires
Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States
Sonya Tayeh, American dancer and choreographer
Sonia Theodoridou, Greek soprano singer
Sonja Vectomov, Czech/Finnish composer/musician
Sonja Vectomov, Czech/Finnish sculptor
Sonya Walger, actress best known as Lost's Penny Widmore
Sonia Zober, American actress
Sonja Savic, Serbian actress
Red Sonja, archetypal fierce and beautiful barbarian
Sonya (ソーニャ, Sōnya) in the Baby, Please Kill Me! Japanese four-panel manga
Sonja in the Underworld series of vampire films
Sonya Belikova in Vampire Academy novels
Sonya Blade in the Mortal Kombat series of video games
Sonia Fowler in British soap opera EastEnders
Sonya Herfmann, also known as Chanel #2, in the television series Scream Queens
Sonya Marmeladova in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Sonia Nevermind in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Sonia Rey in Argentine telenovela Rebelde Way by Cris Morena
Sonya Rostova in War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Sonya Ross in The Maze Runner novel series
Sonya Serebryakova in Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
Sonia Ganguli in The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Sonia Strumm, rock star in the Mega Man Star Force series of video games
