Sonya Friedman

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 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 (1866, English translation 1885) and '' War and Peace'' by Leo Tolstoy (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 (born 1937)
* Sonia, alias of Omaira Rojas Cabrera (born 1967), FARC-EP guerrilla member
* Sonya, cover name of the Soviet spy Ursula Kuczynski (1907-2000)
*Sonia Balassanian (born 1942), Iranian-born Armenian painter, sculptor, and curator
*Sonja Bakić (born 1984), Serbian pop/rock singer
*Sonja Barjaktarović (born 1986), Montenegrin handball goalkeeper
* Sonia Ben Ammar (born 1999), French-Tunisian model
*Sonja Berndt, American pharmacologist and cancer epidemiologist
*Sônia Braga (born 1950), Brazilian actress
*Sonja Christopher, ''Survivor'' contestant
*Sonia Couling (born 1974), Thai model, actress and TV personality
* Sonia Darrin (1924–2020), American film actress
*Sonia Disa (born 1944), Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema actress
* Sonya Eddy (1958-2022), American actress
*Sonia Evans (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 (born 1946), Former President of the Indian National Congress
* Sonya Haddad (1936–2004), American translator and surtitler
* Sonya Hartnett (born 1968), Australian writer
* Sonja Henie (1912–1969), Norwegian figure skater and actress
* Sonia Holleyman, creator, author and illustrator of ''Mona the Vampire''
*Sonia E. Howe (born 1871), Russian essayist
*Sonia de Ignacio (born 1971), Spanish field hockey player
* Sonya Isaacs (born 1974), American Country/Christian singer-songwriter
*Sonya Jeyaseelan, Canadian tennis player
*Sonia Kacem (born 1985), Swiss visual artist
*Sonya Koshkina (born 1985), Ukrainian journalist, editor-in-chief
* Sonja Kovač (born 1984), Croatian actress and model
*Sonja Kristina, (born Sonia Christina Shaw), notable for being the vocalist for Curved Air
* Sonija Kwok (born 1974), actress
*Sonja Lang, Canadian linguist who constructed the language Toki Pona
*Sonia Lo (born 1992), Hong Kong windsurfer
* Sonia Manzano, American actress
*Sonja McCullen, American judge
* Sonja Morgan, Reality TV actress, ''The Real Housewives of New York City''
*Sonia McMahon (1932–2010), Australian socialite, widow of William McMahon
* Sonia Singh (born 1964), Indian television actress
* Sonia O'Sullivan (born 1969), Irish athlete
*Sonia Opoku, Ghanaian footballer
* Sonia Peres (1923–2011), wife of Israel's Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres
*Sonia Purnell, writer and journalist
* Sonia Rutstein of the band Disappear Fear
*Sonia Rykiel (1930–2016), French designer
* Sonja Savić (1961–2008), Serbian actress
*Sonya Scarlet (born 1980), singer of Italian band Theatres des Vampires
*Sonja Smets, 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 (born 1958), Greek soprano singer
* Sonja Vasić (née Petrović; born 1989), Serbian basketball player
*Sonja Vectomov (born 1979), Czech/Finnish composer/musician
*Sonja Vectomov (sculptor), Czech/Finnish sculptor
* Sonya Walger (born 1974), English actress best known as ''Lost''s Penny Widmore
*Sonia Zoberblatt (Sandra Zober, 1927–2011), American actress, first wife of Leonard Nimoy

Fictional characters

* Red Sonja, 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'' 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 in British soap opera ''EastEnders''
* Sonia Ganguli in '' The Namesake'' by Jhumpa Lahiri
* Sonya Herfmann, 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'' 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''

Pen name

* Sonia, pen name of the Italian journalist Ottavia Vitagliano

See also

*

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