Sonam
A Hindi feminine name meaning "she who performs auspicious acts".
Name Census estimates that about 587 living Americans carry the first name Sonam. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Sonam today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sonam births was 1992 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sonam. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sonam with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
587
~ 1 in 583,909 Americans
Peak year
1992
32 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,948
Tracked since 1986
Census
Sonam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,198 people with the first name Sonam, which placed it at #7,056 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,056
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sonam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sonam is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sonam described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sonam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.5% · 2,100
- White1.8% · 40
- Two or more races1.7% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 13
- Black or African American0.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Sonam
Sonam leans heavily female at 80.3% of total registrations, but 118 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sonam as a male name
- Ranked #13,911 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (12 births)
Sonam as a female name
- Ranked #10,948 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (32 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sonam on both sides of the split. Of the 2,198 people counted with this name, 708 were male (32.2%) and 1,490 were female (67.8%).
Popularity
Sonam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sonam from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 196 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sonam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sonam by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sonam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sonams live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Sonam, while New Jersey, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sonam
The name Sonam originates from the Tibetan language and culture. It is derived from the Tibetan word "so" meaning "heir" and "nam" meaning "lama" or "spiritual teacher". Together, the name Sonam means "heir of the lamas" or "successor of the spiritual teachers".
The name has a long history in Tibetan Buddhism, where it was traditionally given to young boys who were destined to become spiritual leaders or monks. It was believed that these children were reincarnations of great lamas or tulkus, and the name Sonam reflected their spiritual lineage and destiny.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sonam can be found in the 14th century, when Sonam Gyatso, a renowned Tibetan lama and leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, lived from 1312 to 1375. He was instrumental in establishing the Sakya monastery and spreading Buddhist teachings throughout Tibet.
Another notable figure in Tibetan history with the name Sonam was Sonam Rapten, who lived from 1492 to 1559. He was a skilled physician and scholar, renowned for his contributions to the field of Tibetan medicine and his translation of important Buddhist texts.
In the 17th century, Sonam Chosgyal (1575-1630) was a prominent political and religious leader in the Ganden Phodrang government of Tibet. He played a crucial role in the unification of Tibet and the establishment of the Dalai Lama lineage as the spiritual and temporal rulers of the country.
The name Sonam also has a strong presence in Bhutanese culture, which shares many religious and cultural ties with Tibet. One of the most famous figures in Bhutanese history with this name was Sonam Zangpo (1504-1553), a Buddhist scholar and master craftsman who is credited with introducing the Dzongkha script and shaping the unique architectural style of Bhutan's dzongs (fortresses).
Another notable Sonam in Bhutanese history was Sonam Lhundup (1919-2011), a prominent spiritual leader and the 69th Je Khenpo, or the head of Bhutan's monastic body. He played a pivotal role in preserving and promoting Bhutanese culture and Buddhist traditions throughout his lifetime.
People
Sonam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sonam as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sonam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sonam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 587 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sonam going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 583,909 US residents.
Is Sonam a common name?
We classify Sonam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 599 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sonam most popular?
The single biggest year for Sonam was 1992, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sonam is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sonam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,198 people with the name Sonam, or 0.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,056 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sonam in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sonam?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sonam on both sides of the split. Of the 2,198 people counted with this name, 708 were male (32.2%) and 1,490 were female (67.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sonam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sonam is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sonam most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sonam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (2,100 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sonam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sonam a female name?
Yes, 80.3% of people registered as Sonam in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sonam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sonam in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sonam can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Sonam?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.