Sonni
Feminine name of African origin meaning "she who is wealthy".
Name Census estimates that about 558 living Americans carry the first name Sonni. It is a predominantly female name (90.4% of registrations). The average person named Sonni today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sonni births was 1989 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sonni. 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 Sonni with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
558
~ 1 in 614,255 Americans
Peak year
1989
33 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,949
Tracked since 1966
Census
Sonni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 549 people with the first name Sonni, which placed it at #19,324 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
#19,324
National first-name rank
People counted
549
549 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sonni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sonni is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Sonni 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 Sonni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.0% · 324
- Black or African American14.6% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 73
- Two or more races6.6% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.6% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Sonni
Sonni leans heavily female at 90.4% of total registrations, but 56 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sonni as a male name
- Ranked #12,109 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (11 births)
Sonni as a female name
- Ranked #10,949 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (33 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sonni leans strongly female. 468 people counted with this name were female (84.9%), compared with 83 male bearers (15.1%).
Popularity
Sonni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sonni from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 157 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Sonni remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sonni 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 Sonni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sonnis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sonni
The name Sonni has its origins in the West African Soninke language, spoken primarily in Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. It is believed to have been derived from the word "sonni," which means "to pursue" or "to hunt." The name was particularly prevalent among the Soninke people, an ethnic group known for their strong warrior traditions.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Sonni dynasty ruled over the Songhai Empire, one of the largest and most powerful empires in West African history. The dynasty was founded by Sonni Ali Ber, who reigned from 1464 to 1492. His name, Sonni, became closely associated with the empire and its military prowess.
The name Sonni appears in several historical records and accounts of the Songhai Empire. Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira, who visited the region in the early 16th century, mentioned the name in his writings, describing the Sonni rulers as fierce and formidable warriors.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sonni can be found in the chronicles of the Songhai Empire, which detail the lives and achievements of its rulers. Sonni Ali Ber, the founder of the dynasty, is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders in West African history, renowned for his strategic brilliance and unwavering determination.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sonni, including:
1. Sonni Ali Ber (c. 1464 - 1492), the founder of the Sonni dynasty and the ruler of the Songhai Empire.
2. Sonni Baru (c. 1493 - 1528), the second ruler of the Sonni dynasty, who continued the expansion of the Songhai Empire.
3. Sonni Hunkay (c. 1530 - 1555), the third ruler of the Sonni dynasty, known for his military campaigns and consolidation of power.
4. Sonni Kumba (c. 1556 - 1564), the fourth and final ruler of the Sonni dynasty, whose reign was marked by internal conflicts and the eventual collapse of the empire.
5. Sonni Bah (c. 1820 - 1889), a prominent Soninke ruler and chief in present-day Mali, who played a significant role in the resistance against French colonial expansion.
The name Sonni has left an indelible mark on the history of West Africa, particularly in the context of the Songhai Empire and the Soninke people. Its meaning, rooted in the concepts of pursuit and hunting, reflects the warrior spirit and determination that characterized the rulers and warriors who bore this name.
People
Sonni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sonni 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
Sonni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sonni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 558 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sonni 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 614,255 US residents.
Is Sonni a common name?
We classify Sonni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 581 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sonni most popular?
The single biggest year for Sonni was 1989, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sonni is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sonni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 549 people with the name Sonni, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,324 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 Sonni 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 Sonni?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sonni leans strongly female. 468 people counted with this name were female (84.9%), compared with 83 male bearers (15.1%). 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 Sonni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sonni is White at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Sonni most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sonni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.0% (324 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 Sonni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sonni a female name?
Yes, 90.4% of people registered as Sonni 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 Sonni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sonni 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 Sonni 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 share the name Sonni?
Want to know how many people have the name Sonni? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.