Sonia is a feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

in many areas of the world including the West,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

. Sonia and its variant spellings Sonja and Sonya are derived from the Russian hypocoristic ''Sonya'', an abbreviation of '' Sofiya'' (Greek ''Sophia'' "Wisdom"). The name was popularised in the English-speaking world by characters in the novels '' Crime and Punishment'' by

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

(1866, English translation 1885) and '' War and Peace'' by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

(1869, English translation 1886), and later by a 1917 bestselling novel, ''Sonia: Between Two Worlds'', by Stephen McKenna. Scandinavian countries spell the name with the letter ''j'': Sonja, while many English speaking countries spell it with ''i'' or ''y'': Sonia or Sonya. Many other variant spellings exist. Although the most common English pronunciation is , is also possible.

Notable people

Queen Sonja of Norway Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relations ...

(born 1937) * Sonia, alias of

Omaira Rojas Cabrera Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, also known as Omaira Rojas Cabrera ( nom de guerre: Sonia) born in the Colombian town of Palestina, Huila Department, on 16 June 1967. She comes from a low-income peasant family and had only completed two years of middle ...

(born 1967), FARC-EP guerrilla member * Sonya, cover name of the Soviet spy Ursula Kuczynski (1907-2000) *

Sonia Balassanian Sonia Balassanian (, ; born 1942) née Sonia Amirian, is an Iranian-born painter, sculptor, and curator, of Armenian ethnicity. She co-founded the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art. Balassanian lives in New York City and Yerevan. ...

(born 1942), Iranian-born Armenian painter, sculptor, and curator * Sonja Bakić (born 1984), Serbian pop/rock singer *

Sonja Barjaktarović Sonja Barjaktarović (born 11 September 1986) is a retired Montenegrin handball goalkeeper. She was the first goalkeeper of the Montenegro women's national handball team and helped them to win the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 20 ...

(born 1986), Montenegrin handball goalkeeper * Sonia Ben Ammar (born 1999), French-Tunisian model *

Sonja Berndt Sonja Ingrid Berndt is an American pharmacologist and cancer epidemiologist who researches non-Hodgkin lymphoma, prostate cancer, and anthropometric traits that are cancer risk factors. She is a senior investigator in the occupational and enviro ...

, American pharmacologist and cancer epidemiologist *

Sônia Braga Sônia Maria Campos Braga (; born 8 June 1950) is a Brazilian actress. She is known in the English-speaking world for her Golden Globe Award–nominated performances in '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' (1985) and ''Moon over Parador'' (1988). She ...

(born 1950), Brazilian actress *

Sonja Christopher '' Survivor'' is an American reality television show, based on the Swedish program, ''Expedition Robinson ''Robinson'', formerly ''Expedition Robinson'', is a Swedish reality game show and the original version of the international '' Surviv ...

, ''Survivor'' contestant *

Sonia Couling Sonia Couling (also spelled Sonia Cooling, Sonya Couling or Sonya Cooling) ( th, ซอนย่า คูลลิ่ง; June 18, 1974 in Bangkok, Thailand), nickname Pim ( th, พิม; ), is a Thai model, actress and television personality. ...

(born 1974), Thai model, actress and TV personality * Sonia Darrin (1924–2020), American film actress *

Sonia Disa Mary Felicia Perera (born June 7, 1944, සෝනියා දිසා) inhala, popularly as Sonia Dissanayake or known professionally as Sonia Disa, is a former actress in Sri Lankan cinema. Starting her career in 1962, Disa became one of th ...

(born 1944), Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema actress *

Sonya Eddy Sonya Eddy (June 17, 1967 – December 19, 2022) was an American actress. Early life and education Eddy was born in Concord, California, on June 17, 1967. She majored in theatre and dance at University of California, Davis and received her B.A. ...

(1958-2022), American actress *

Sonia Evans Sonia Evans (born 13 February 1971), known mononymously as Sonia, is an English pop singer from Skelmersdale, near Liverpool. She had a 1989 UK number one hit " You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" and became the first female UK artist to achieve ...

(born 1971), English pop singer * Sonia Fergina Citra (born 1993), Indonesian beauty pageant titleholder who won Puteri Indonesia 2018 * Sonja Fransson (born 1949), Swedish politician *

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...

(born 1946), Former President of the Indian National Congress *

Sonya Haddad Sonya Haddad (November 9, 1936 – June 15, 2004) was a libretto translator and surtitler for the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Life and career Haddad was born in Canton, Ohio, on November 9, 1936, and grew up in Akron. She graduated from th ...

(1936–2004), American translator and surtitler * Sonya Hartnett (born 1968), Australian writer *

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

(1912–1969), Norwegian figure skater and actress * Sonia Holleyman, creator, author and illustrator of ''Mona the Vampire'' *

Sonia E. Howe Sonia "Sonny" Elizabeth Howe (born 1871) was an Académie Française laureate Russian essayist. Early life Sonia Elizabeth Howe was born in 1871 in Analowo, near Saint Petersburg, the daughter of Charlotte von Mayer and Dr. Karl von Mayer, a phy ...

(born 1871), Russian essayist *

Sonia de Ignacio Sonia de Ignacio-Simo Casas (born January 24, 1971 in Terrassa, Catalonia) is a former female field hockey player from Spain, who represented her native country twice at the Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link ...

(born 1971), Spanish field hockey player * Sonya Isaacs (born 1974), American

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

singer-songwriter *

Sonya Jeyaseelan Sonya Jeyaseelan (born April 24, 1976) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is No. 48, which she reached in December 2000. Her career-high ranking in doubles is world No. 40, achieved on 16 October 20 ...

, Canadian tennis player *

Sonia Kacem Sonia Kacem (born 1985) is a Swiss visual artist, of Swiss and Tunisian descent. She is known for her sculptures and installation art. She has lived in both Amsterdam, and Geneva. Biography Sonia Kacem was born in 1985 in Geneva, Switzerland. ...

(born 1985), Swiss visual artist *

Sonya Koshkina Sonya Koshkina (Ukrainian, Со́ня Ко́шкіна; alternate Romanizations, Sonja Koškina and Soni︠a︡ Koshkina; born, July 8, 1985) is the pen name of Ksenia Mykytivna Vasilenko (Ксенія Микитівна Василенко), a ...

(born 1985), Ukrainian journalist, editor-in-chief *

Sonja Kovač Sonja Kovač (born 18 June 1984) is a Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map ...

(born 1984), Croatian actress and model *

Sonja Kristina Sonja Kristina (born Sonia Christina Shaw; 14 April 1949) is an English singer, best known for starring in the seminal 1960s musical ''Hair'', and for being the lead vocalist of the 1970s progressive rock band Curved Air.''Rocking the Classics ...

, (born Sonia Christina Shaw), notable for being the vocalist for

Curved Air Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fus ...

Sonija Kwok Sonija Kwok Sin-nei (, born 22 July 1974) is a Hong Kong actress who worked with TVB from 1999 to 2015. Since 2015, she has been managed by GAIA Entertainment. Early life Kwok was born in Hong Kong and is of mixed three quarters Cantonese an ...

(born 1974), actress *

Sonja Lang Sonja Lang (previously known as Sonja Elen Kisa, 1978) is a Canadian linguist and translator. She is best known for her creation of Toki Pona, a minimalist constructed language. Biography Lang was born and raised in Moncton, New Brunswick. S ...

, Canadian linguist who constructed the language

Toki Pona Toki Pona (rendered as ''toki pona'' and often translated as 'the language of good'; ; ) is a philosophical artistic constructed language (philosophical artlang) known for its small vocabulary, simplicity, and ease of acquisition. It was create ...

Sonia Lo Lo Sin Lam ( zh, 盧善琳, born 18 December 1992), known as Sonia Lo, is a Hong Kong windsurfer. She qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the ca ...

(born 1992), Hong Kong windsurfer * Sonia Manzano, American actress *

Sonja McCullen Sonja McCullen is an American judge, lawyer and former educator who currently serves as a judge of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals. Education McCullen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal and Hawaiian studies from the University ...

, American judge *

Sonja Morgan Sonja Morgan (née Tremont; born November 25, 1963) is an American television personality, socialite and philanthropist. She is best known for her long-running role as a main cast member on the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of Ne ...

, Reality TV actress, ''The Real Housewives of New York City'' *

Sonia McMahon Sonia Rachel McMahon, Lady McMahon (née Hopkins; 1 August 19322 April 2010), was an Australian socialite and philanthropist. She was the wife of William McMahon, who served as prime minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972, and the mother of act ...

(1932–2010), Australian socialite, widow of William McMahon * Sonia Singh (born 1964), Indian television actress * Sonia O'Sullivan (born 1969), Irish athlete *

Sonia Opoku Sonia Opoku (born 25 December 2001) is a Ghanaian international footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Indian Women's League club Misaka United and the Ghana women's national team. She previously played for Ghanaian club Ampem Darkoa La ...

, Ghanaian footballer *

Sonia Peres Sonia Peres ( he, סוניה פרס; ''née'' Gelman; 27 March 1923 – 20 January 2011) was the wife of President and Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres. Sonia served in the British Army during World War II, and for many years volunteered an ...

(1923–2011), wife of Israel's Prime Minister and President

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

Sonia Purnell Sonia Purnell is a British writer and journalist who has worked at ''The Economist'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and ''The Sunday Times''. Her books include ''Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill'', which was chosen as book of the year by ...

, writer and journalist * Sonia Rutstein of the band Disappear Fear *

Sonia Rykiel Sonia Rykiel (; ; 25 May 1930 – 25 August 2016) was a French fashion designer and writer. She created the Poor Boy Sweater, which was featured on the cover of French ''Elle'' magazine. Her knitwear designs and new fashion techniques led her t ...

(1930–2016), French designer *

Sonja Savić Sonja Savić ( sr-Cyrl, Соња Савић; 15 September 1961 – 23 September 2008) was a Serbian actress, famous for her husky voice and series of impressive roles in some of the more memorable 1980s Yugoslav films. Sonja appeared in Miroslav ...

(1961–2008), Serbian actress *

Sonya Scarlet Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely a ...

(born 1980), singer of Italian band Theatres des Vampires *

Sonja Smets Sonja Smets is a Belgian and Dutch logician and epistemology, epistemologist known for her work in belief revision and quantum logic. She is Professor of Logic and Epistemology at the University of Amsterdam, where she was the Director of the Ins ...

, Belgian and Dutch logician * Sonia Sotomayor (born 1954), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States * Sonya Tayeh, American dancer and choreographer *

Sonia Theodoridou Sonia Theodoridou ( el, Σόνια Θεοδωρίδου, links=no; born 1958) is a soprano from Veria, Greece who has performed prestigious operatic roles internationally. Early life and education Theodoridou was born in Veria in Macedonia, an ...

(born 1958), Greek soprano singer *

Sonja Vasić Sonja Vasić (; sr-cyr, Соња Петровић Васић, born February 18, 1989) is a Serbian former professional women's basketball player. Standing at , she played at the small forward position. She represented the Serbia women's national ...

(née Petrović; born 1989), Serbian basketball player *

Sonja Vectomov Sonja Vectomov (born 21 May 1979) is a Czech-Finnish electronic musician and composer who descends from a family rooted in the classical music world.Poncar, M."Sonja Vectomov právě vydala album ''Lamprophrenia''" Techno.cz, Sep 26, 2016. Vect ...

(born 1979), Czech/Finnish composer/musician *

Sonja Vectomov (sculptor) Sonja Vectomov (born 8 June 1957) is a Czech sculptor based in Jyväskylä, Finland, known for her bronze statues of Finnish cultural figures.Siilahti, A."Sonja Vectomov tanssittaa pronssia" ''Etelä-Suomen Sanomat'', Feb 15, 2010. In 2010 Vect ...

, Czech/Finnish sculptor * Sonya Walger (born 1974), English actress best known as ''Lost''s Penny Widmore *

Sonia Zoberblatt Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, then ...

(Sandra Zober, 1927–2011), American actress, first wife of Leonard Nimoy

Fictional characters

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. Marvel Comics ...

, archetypal fierce and beautiful barbarian * in the '' Baby, Please Kill Me!'' Japanese four-panel manga *Sonya in the '' Heroes of the Storm'', a video game by Blizzard Entertainment * Sonja in the ''Underworld'' series of vampire films * Sonya Belikova in ''

Vampire Academy ''Vampire Academy'' is a series of six young adult paranormal romance novels by American author Richelle Mead. It tells the story of Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway, a dhampir girl, who is training to be a guardian of her moroi best friend, Vasilisa " ...

'' novels * Sonia Belmont in '' Castlevania Legends'', from the ''Castlevania'' series * Sonya Blade in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series of video games * Sonia Cruz, a character in the Netflix series '' Grand Army'' *

Sonia Fowler Sonia Fowler (also Jackson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Natalie Cassidy. Her first appearance was on and she departed on She returned briefly in 2010 along with other members of the Jackson fam ...

in British soap opera ''EastEnders'' * Sonia Ganguli in '' The Namesake'' by Jhumpa Lahiri *

Sonya Herfmann The following is a list of characters from the Fox black comedy horror series '' Scream Queens''. The first season focuses on the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority in Wallace University, led by Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts), that is being targeted by a ...

, also known as Chanel #2, in the television series ''Scream Queens'' * Sonya Marmeladova in '' Crime and Punishment'' by Fyodor Dostoevsky * Sonia Nevermind in '' Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair'' * Sonia Rey in Argentine telenovela '' Rebelde Way'' by Cris Morena * Sonya Rostova, character in ''War and Peace'' by Leo Tolstoy and the musical based on it, ''Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812'' * Sonya Ross in ''The Maze Runner'' novel series * Sonia Solandres in '' The Pink Panther 2'' * Sonya Serebryakova in ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the direct ...

'' by Anton Chekhov * Sonia Strumm, rock star in the ''Mega Man Star Force'' series of video games * Sonia Virena in television anime '' Symphogear AXZ'' * Sonia, a character from the game '' Pokémon Sword and Shield'' * Sonja, a character from the game '' Advance Wars'' * Sonia, a character from the 1907 English Play ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt t ...

Pen name

* Sonia, pen name of the Italian journalist Ottavia Vitagliano

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonia (Name) Feminine given names Russian feminine given names Romanian feminine given names Italian feminine given names Spanish feminine given names Portuguese feminine given names Slavic feminine given names Polish feminine given names

Notable people

Fictional characters

Pen name

See also

Notes