Sonam is a given name. It is a

Tibetan name Tibetan names typically consist of two juxtaposed elements. Family names are rare except among those of aristocratic ancestry and then come before the personal name (but diaspora Tibetans living in societies that expect a surname may adopt one). F ...

meaning "

merit Merit may refer to: Religion * Merit (Christianity) * Merit (Buddhism) * Punya (Hinduism) * Imputed righteousness in Reformed Christianity Companies and brands * Merit (cigarette), a brand of cigarettes made by Altria * Merit Energy Company, ...

" (). Separately, it is also a name in various

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

(Devanagari script: ). People with this name include:

Buddhism

* Sönam Choklang, 2nd Panchen Lama (1438–1505) *

Sonam Gyatso, 3rd Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso (; 1543–1588) was the first to be named Dalai Lama, although the title was retrospectively given to his two predecessors. He was born near Lhasa in 1543 and was recognised as the reincarnation of Gendun Gyatso and subsequently e ...

(1543–1588), first officially recognized Dalai Lama * Sonam Lhundrup (1456–1531), great abbot of Mustang *

Sonam Rapten Sönam Rapten (''bsod nams rab brtan''; 1595–1658), initially known as Gyalé Chödze and later on as Sönam Chöpel, was born in the Tholung valley in the Central Tibetan province of Ü. He started off as a monk-administrator (''las sne, lené ...

(1595–1658), senior official of the Gelugpa School * Sonam Rinchen (1933–2013), Buddhist Geshe from Kham *

Jinpa Sonam Geshe Lharampa Jinpa Sonam is a Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist philosopher and Spiritual Director for the Indiana Buddhist Center. Sonam was born on May 25, 1955, in Zanskar valley, Ladakh, in the Republic of India. In 1967, he became a monk ...

(born 1955), Indian Buddhist teacher from Ladakh, director of the Indiana Buddhist center

Entertainers

Sonam (actress) Sonam Khan (born Bakhtavar Khan 2 September 1972) is an Indian actress and former model known for her works in Bollywood, and Telugu cinema. She is the niece of actor Raza Murad and granddaughter of veteran actor Murad. She was paired with ac ...

(born Bakhtavar Khan, 1972), Indian actress *

Sonam Bajwa Sonampreet Bajwa (born 16 August 1989) is an Indian model and actress who predominantly appears in Punjabi language, Punjabi language films. In addition to few Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu films. She participated in the F ...

(born 1989), Indian actress of Punjabi descent *

Sonam Bisht Sonam Bisht is an Indian beauty pageant and reality show contestant turned television actress. She hails from Dehradun and studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya Hathibarkala. In 2013 she was the first runner-up in the Miss Uttarakhand contest. She took ...

(), Indian actress from Uttarakhand *

Sonam Kapoor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja (; born 9 June 1985) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She has won a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award, and from 2012 to 2016, she appeared in ''Forbes India'' Celebrity 100 list based on her income and ...

(born 1985), Indian film actress and fashion icon *

Sonam Kinga Dasho Sonam Kinga is a Bhutanese politician and researcher at the Center for Bhutan Studies. He played the monk in the 2003 film ''Travellers and Magicians'', for which he is also credited as a dialogue coach. Sonam Kinga obtained his Ph.D and MA ...

(), Bhutanese actor *

Sonam Lamba Sonam Lamba (born 26 February 1996) is an Indian television actress known for her character of Vidya Shravan Suryavanshi in '' Saath Nibhaana Saathiya'' on Star Plus. Life and career Birth and early work Lamba was born in Chandigarh and ini ...

(born 1995), Indian actress from Chandigarh *

Sonam Lhamo Sonam Lhamo (born 1988) is a Bhutanese actress. She is best known for playing one of the leading roles in the 2003 film Travellers and Magicians. Lhamo plays a young hitchhiker in the movie, accompanying her farmer father to the city. Lhamo was ...

(born 1988), Bhutanese actress * Sonam Mukherjee (, Indian actress from Mumbai *

Sonam Tshering Lepcha Sonam Tshering Lepcha (3 January 1928 – 30 July 2020) was an Indian folk musician, composer and lyricist. He was the first among Lepcha people to air his voice on All India Radio and was credited with the revival of Lepcha culture, one of the ...

(1928–2020), Indian folk musician from Sikkim *

Soname Yangchen Soname Yangchen (born 1973) is a British singer and a songwriter. Biography Soname Yangchen was born in the Yarlung Valley at the time of the Cultural Revolution in Tibet, into a noble family which was poorly regarded by the Chinese governmen ...

(born 1973), Tibetan singer and songwriter * Tenzing Sonam (born 1959), Tibetan film director

Politics and government

Sonom Sonom (died circa June 13–14, 1776) was a chieftain of the rGyalrong people in China. He was the lord-lama of Greater Jinchuan.Theobald, Ulrich. ''War Finance and Logistics in Late Imperial China: A Study of the Second Jinchuan Campaign (1771� ...

(died 1776), king of the rGyalrong people in China *

Sonam Drakpa Sonam Drakpa (, 1359–1408) was a regent of Central Tibet who ruled in 1381–1385. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa Dynasty, the leading regime in Tibet from 1354 to 1435. Tenure as abbot and regent Sonam Drakpa was the son of Rinchen Dorje, a bro ...

(1359–1408), regent of Central Tibet *

Sonam Gyatso Lepcha Sonam Gyatso Lepcha is an Indian politician from Sikkim. He is a member of the Sikkim Democratic Front. He was elected to the Sikkim Legislative Assembly from Djongu in the 2019 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election as a member of the Sikkim Kr ...

(), Indian politician from Sikkim *

Sonam Lama Sonam Lama is an Indian politician and monk in Sikkim. He is the State Minister RDD, Cooperative Depart of Sikkim Political career Sonam Lama stood as the candidate of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) from Sangha constituency in the 2014 Sikkim ...

(born ), Indian politician from Sikkim *

Sonam Pelzom Sonam Pelzom is a Bhutanese politician who has been a member of the National Council of Bhutan The National Council is the upper house of Bhutan's bicameral Parliament, which also comprises the Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) and the National Assemb ...

(born ), Bhutanese politician *

Sonam Topgay Dorji Sir Raja Sonam Topgay Dorji CIE ( dz, སྟོབས་རྒྱས་རྡོ་རྗེ་; Wylie transliteration: ''Stobs-rgyas Rdo-rje''; 1896–1953), also called Tobgay, was a member of the Dorji family and Bhutanese politician who served ...

(1896–1953), Bhutanese politician *

Sonam Topgyal Sonam Topgyal (1940 – 30 December 2012) was Prime Minister (officially Kalön Tripa) of the Central Tibetan Administration (Tibetan government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a c ...

(1940–2012), Kalön Tripa of the Central Tibetan Administration *

Sonam Tobgye ''Lyonpo'' Sonam Tobgye (born 15 November 1949) is an eminent jurist from Bhutan. He served as Chief Justice of the High Court of Bhutan from 1991 through 2009 and as Chief Justice of the newly created Supreme Court of Bhutan from 2010 through ...

(born 1949), Bhutanese judge *

Sonam Tshong Sonam is a given name. It is a Tibetan name meaning "merit" (). Separately, it is also a name in various Indo-Aryan languages (Devanagari script: ). People with this name include: Buddhism * Sönam Choklang, 2nd Panchen Lama (1438–1505) * Sona ...

(born 1958), Bhutanese diplomat *

Sonam Venchungpa Sonam Tshering Venchungpa is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Sikkim Legislative Assembly from Martam-Rumtek in the 2019 by election as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a polit ...

(), Indian politician from Sikkim *

Sonam Wangchuk Colonel Sonam Wangchuk, MVC is an Indian Army veteran, who served with the Assam Regiment and the Ladakh Scouts. He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, during his successful ope ...

(born 1964), Indian Army veteran from Ladakh *

Jalley Sonam Jally Sonam is an Indian trade unionist and politician. As of 2014 he is the president of the All Arunachal Pradesh Workers Union. As of 2012 he served as working president of the Arunachal Pradesh branch of the Indian National Trade Union Congre ...

(), Indian politician and trade unionist from Arunachal Pradesh

Sport

Sonam Bhutia Sonam Bhutia (born 26 January 1994) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Machhindra FC in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. Career Early career Born and brought up in Shotak, Sikkim, Sonam Bhutia is a prod ...

(born 1994), Indian footballer from Sikkim *

Sonam Chuki Sonam Chuki (born 7 April 1963), is a former Bhutanese archer who internationally represented Bhutan. Chuki competed for Bhutan at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles in the Archery at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's individual, in ...

(born 1963), Bhutanese archer *

Sonam Gyatso (mountaineer) Sonam Gyatso (1923–1968) was an Indian mountaineer. He was the second Indian man, the seventeenth man in world and the first person from Sikkim to summit Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. He was one of the nine summiters of ...

(1923–1968), Sikkimese mountaineer *

Sonam Tenzin Sonam Tenzin (born 20 October 1986) is a football player from Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Hi ...

(born 1986), Bhutanese footballer *

Sonam Tobgay Sonam Tobgay (born 25 March 1990) is a Bhutanese sportsman who has represented his country in both, cricket and football. On 7 December 2019, he became the first batsman to be retired out in a T20I. Career His international tournaments for th ...

(born 1990), Bhutanese cricketer and footballer *

Sonam Wangyal Sonam Wangyal (born 1942) is a former Indian paramilitary personnel and mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest in 1965 at the age 23, making him the youngest summiter. He was one of the nine summiters of the first successful Indian Everest ...

(born 1942), Indian mountaineer from Sikkim known for scaling Mount Everest * Sonam Yoezer (born 1994), Bhutanese footballer

Other

Sonam Dechen Wangchuck Princess ''Ashi'' Sonam Dechen Wangchuck (born 5 August 1981) is a princess of Bhutan. She is the daughter of the fourth King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck and his wife, Queen Mother ''Ashi'' Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck. She is half-sister of the f ...

(born 1981), princess of Bhutan *

Sonam Dolma Brauen Sonam Dolma Brauen (born 1953) is a Tibetan-Swiss contemporary painter and sculptor. Life and career Early life Sonam Dolma was born in Kongpo, Tibet (today Kongpo, Gongbo'gyamda County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibetan Autonomous Region, Chin ...

, (born 1953), Tibetan-Swiss painter *

Sonam Lotus Sonam Lotus is the director of the India Meteorological Department, meteorological department, Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu & Kashmir. Lotus is owing to his precised weather predictions in the valley, he is also known as the "Saint ...

, Indian meteorologist from Ladakh * Sonam Wangchuk (engineer) (born 1966), Indian engineer from Ladakh

References

{{given name Tibetan names