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 f ...

in many areas of the world including the West, Russia, Iran, and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. Sonia and its variant spellings Sonja and Sonya are used in many countries, including Russia, as a diminutive for '' Sofiya'' (Greek ''Sophia'' "Wisdom"). The name was popularised in the English-speaking world by characters in the novels ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866.

'' by

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

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

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

(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. Although the most common English pronunciation is , and are 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 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 ...

(born 1986), Montenegrin handball goalkeeper * Sonia Ben Ammar (born 1999), French-Tunisian model * Sonia Bermúdez Robles (born 1955), Colombian thanatologist * Sonja Berndt, American pharmacologist and cancer epidemiologist * Sônia Braga (born 1950), Brazilian actress * Sonia Cheng, Hong Kong business executive * Sonja Christopher, American ''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 Sonya Eddy (June 17, 1967 – December 19, 2022) was an American actress. She was best known for playing Epiphany Johnson in the American American Broadcasting Company, ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' (2006—2022) for which she won a posthu ...

(1958–2022), American actress *

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

(born 1971), English pop singer *

Sonia Fergina Citra Sonia Fergina Citra (born 27 April 1993) is an Indonesian model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Puteri Indonesia 2018. She represented her country at the Miss Universe 2018 pageant held in at IMPACT Arena, Muang Thong Thani in Nontha ...

(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 legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such ...

(born 1949), Swedish politician *

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...

(born 1946), Indian politician, president of the Indian National Congress 1998–2017 and 2019–2022 * Sonya Haddad (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, British creator, author and illustrator of ''Mona the Vampire'' * Sonia E. Howe (1871–19??), Russian essayist * Sonia de Ignacio (born 1971), Spanish field hockey player * Sonia Ilinskagia (1938– 2024), Greek-Russian writer, translator and professor * Sonya Isaacs (born 1974), American Country/Christian singer-songwriter * Sonya Jeyaseelan, Canadian tennis player * Sonia Kacem (born 1985), Swiss visual artist *

Sonya Koshkina Kseniia Mykytivna Vasylenko (; born July 8, 1985), better known by the pen name Sonya Koshkina ();, is a Ukraine, Ukrainian journalist, who is also co-owner and editor-in-chief of the Electronic publishing, online publication, LB.ua. Early life ...

(born 1985), Ukrainian journalist, editor-in-chief * Sonja Kovač (born 1984), Croatian actress and model * Sonja Kristina (born Sonia Christina Shaw), English singer, vocalist for Curved Air * Sonija Kwok (born 1974), Hong Kong actress * Sonja Lang, Canadian linguist who constructed the language Toki Pona * Sonia Lo (born 1992), Hong Kong windsurfer * Sonia Manzano, American actress * Sonia Mazey (born 1958), New Zealand

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

academic * Sonja McCullen, American judge * Sonja Morgan, American television personality, ''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 Sonia Peres 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 anonymously for sick children and the disabled. She married Shimon in May 194 ...

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

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

* Sonia Purnell, British writer and journalist * Sonia Rutstein, American musician 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 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 since ...

(born 1954), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States * Sonya Tayeh, American dancer and choreographer * Sonya Tayurskaya (born 1991), Russian singer, member of Little Big * Sonia Theodoridou (born 1958), Greek soprano singer * Sonja Vasić (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. Vec ...

(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 * Zonja Wallen-Lawrence (1892–1986), Swedish-American biochemist, nutritionist

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 ''Heroes of the Storm'' is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Announced at BlizzCon 2010, it was released on June 2, 2015 for macOS and Windows. The game features various crossover ...

'', 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 ''

'' by Fyodor Dostoevsky * Sonia Nevermind in '' Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair'' *

Sonya Rebecchi Sonya Rebecchi (also Mitchell) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Eve Morey. The actress auditioned for the role and began filming in June 2009. She made her first screen appearance during the episod ...

in the Australian soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' * 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 ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' * Queen Sonia, a character and the first queen of the kingdom of Hyrule in the video game '' The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom''

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