Sonia
A feminine name of Russian origin meaning "wisdom" or "prudence".
Name Census estimates that about 55,129 living Americans carry the first name Sonia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sonia today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sonia births was 1970 (1,777 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sonia. 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 Sonia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Sonia is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 278 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
55K
~ 1 in 6,217 Americans
Peak year
1970
1,777 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1993 SSA rank
#1,359
Tracked since 1895
Census
Sonia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 113,731 people with the first name Sonia, which placed it at #494 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
#494
National first-name rank
People counted
114K
113,731 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
37.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sonia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sonia is Hispanic at 64.8%. The next largest groups are White (17.2%) and Black (8.8%). 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 Sonia 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 Sonia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.8% · 73,753
- White17.2% · 19,615
- Black or African American8.8% · 10,015
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 8,166
- Two or more races1.6% · 1,840
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 342
Gender
Gender distribution for Sonia
Out of the 66,855 babies given the name Sonia since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Sonia as a male name
- Ranked #5,717 in 1993
- 10 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1981 (17 births)
Sonia as a female name
- Ranked #1,359 in 2024
- 168 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (1,767 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sonia appears almost entirely female. Of the 113,726 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Sonia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sonia from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 15,301 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sonia 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 Sonia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sonias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sonia, while Wyoming, Vermont, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,258 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sonia
The name Sonia has its roots in the Greek language and culture, originating from the ancient Greek word "sōphia," which means wisdom or knowledge. It is believed to have first appeared as a feminine form of the masculine name "Sophon" during the Hellenistic period, around the 3rd century BC.
In ancient Greek mythology, Sophia was revered as the personification of wisdom, often depicted as a beautiful woman with a crown and a laurel wreath. The name's association with wisdom and intelligence likely contributed to its enduring popularity throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sonia can be found in the writings of the Roman philosopher and statesman, Cicero, who lived in the 1st century BC. He mentioned a woman named Sonia in his work "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (On the Ends of Good and Evil).
During the Middle Ages, the name Sonia gained popularity among Christian communities, particularly in Eastern Europe. It became a commonly used name in regions such as Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, where it was often associated with the concept of divine wisdom and enlightenment.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sonia. One of the earliest was Sonia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891), a pioneering Russian mathematician and the first woman to hold a professorship in Europe. Her groundbreaking work in partial differential equations and mechanics earned her widespread recognition and paved the way for future generations of women in science.
Another famous Sonia was Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979), a Ukrainian-born French artist who was a key figure in the Parisian avant-garde movement of the early 20th century. Her vivid abstract paintings and textile designs, characterized by bold colors and geometric patterns, significantly influenced the development of modern art.
In the realm of literature, Sonia Sanchez (born 1934) is a renowned African American poet, playwright, and activist. Her powerful works, which explore themes of race, gender, and social justice, have earned her numerous accolades, including the Robert Frost Medal for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in American Poetry.
Sonia Gandhi (born 1946), an Indian politician and former President of the Indian National Congress party, is another notable figure who has carried the name. As the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, she played a significant role in shaping the political landscape of modern India.
Finally, Sonia Rykiel (1930-2016) was a influential French fashion designer known for her pioneering work in creating stylish yet comfortable clothing for women. Her knitwear designs, featuring bold stripes and bright colors, became iconic in the fashion world, and she was widely regarded as a trailblazer in the industry.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sonia
People
Sonia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sonia 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
Sonia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sonia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 55,129 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sonia 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 6,217 US residents.
Is Sonia a common name?
We classify Sonia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66,855 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sonia most popular?
The single biggest year for Sonia was 1970, when 1,777 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sonia is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sonia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 113,731 people with the name Sonia, or 37.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #494 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 Sonia 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 Sonia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sonia appears almost entirely female. Of the 113,726 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Sonia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sonia is Hispanic at 64.8%. The next largest groups are White (17.2%) and Black (8.8%). 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 Sonia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sonia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.8% (73,753 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 Sonia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sonia a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Sonia 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 Sonia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sonia 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 Sonia 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 Sonia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.