Sonia is a feminine given name in many areas of the world including the West,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

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 Turkm ...

, 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 ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

'' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (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 (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 Sonja Bakić ( sr-cyr, Соња Бакић; born 22 February 1984 in Sombor, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Serbs, Serbian singer and songwriter. She reached fame as a contestant in television show ''Operacija trijumf'', which was broadcast in five ...

(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 2011 ...

(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 envir ...

, American pharmacologist and cancer epidemiologist * Sônia Braga (born 1950), Brazilian actress *

Sonja Christopher ''Survivor'' is an American reality television show, based on the Swedish program, '' Expedition Robinson''. Contestants are referred to as "castaways" and they compete against one another to become the "Sole Survivor" and win one million U.S. ...

, ''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 (born 1944), Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema actress * Sonya Eddy (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 achiev ...

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

Sonja Fransson Sonja Ingrid Mildred Fransson (born 1949) is a Swedish politician and former member of the Riksdag, the national legislature. A member of the Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by man ...

(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 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, whil ...

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'' (Χρ ...

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 (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 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, 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 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 ...

, writer and journalist *

Sonia Rutstein Disappear Fear (stylized as ''disappear fear'') is an American indie pop/indie folk/ Americana/ world beat band formed in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1987. Biography Disappear Fear is a songwriter, a band, a visual artist named Sonia Rutstein. Soni ...

of the band Disappear Fear * Sonia Rykiel (1930–2016), French designer * Sonja Savić (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 aba ...

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

Sonja Smets Sonja Smets is a Belgian and Dutch logician and 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 Institute for Log ...

, Belgian and Dutch logician *

Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served sinc ...

(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) 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, archetypal fierce and beautiful barbarian * in the ''

Baby, Please Kill Me! is a Japanese Yonkoma, four-panel gag comedy manga series written and illustrated by Kaduho which began serialization in Houbunsha's ''Manga Time Kirara Carat'' from July 2008. It follows the school lives of a high school girl Yasuna Oribe a ...

'' Japanese four-panel manga *Sonya in the ''

Heroes of the Storm ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various ...

'', 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 Sonya Blade is a fictional character in the '' Mortal Kombat'' fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. She debuted in the original 1992 game as the roster's sole female fighter. Inspired by martial artist Cynthia Ro ...

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 fami ...

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 ''

'' 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 dire ...

'' 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

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