Sonia (name)

Sonia

Gender	Feminine
Other names
Related names	Sonya, Sophia

Sonia is a feminine given name in the many countries including the West, Russia and India. The name is derived from "Sophia", a Greek name meaning wisdom.

In the official language of India Hindi the name means 'golden', derived from सोना sonā 'gold', from Sanskrit सुवर्ण suvarṇa (su- 'good' + varṇa 'color').

Variant spellings include Sonja and Sonya.

Sonya and its variations are occasionally found as surnames in England and the American eastern seaboard.

In October 2009, Sonia asks Collin to seek information about her old friend Nicholas and wants Collin to ask Nita for his phone number at the collage that he goes to but Nita says she can`t have his phone number because, one Nita does not know how to locate Nicholas or the collage he goes to, two because in the past Sonia would often get into trouble with both her previous school and her parents just for conversing with Nicholas. Sonia later implies that she simply does not care if she gets into trouble and becomes upset at Nita for not giving her what she asked for.

First Name

The name appears in multiple languages including English, Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Hungarian, German, Scandinavian, Finnish, Slovene, Serbian, and Ukrainian.

Sonya has many variant spellings and related name forms, among them Sonja, Sonje, Sonni, Sonnie, Sonnjea. Sonya is variant of Sophia (Greek) which has 18 variant forms: Saffi, Sofia, Sofie, Soficita, Sofka, Sofy, Sofya, Sonja, Sonnie, Sonya, Sophey, Sophie, Sophy, Zofia, Zofi, Žofia, Zofya, and Zosia.

Slavic countries spell the name with the letter "j": Sonja, while many English speaking countries spell it with "i" or "y": Sonia or Sonya. These are only variations on the same name.

Outside Europe and European-influenced cultures, the Mayans of the fifteenth century named their main wives Sonya as a sign of respect, intelligence or sign that she is a virtuous woman. Mothers prayed that the name Sonya was placed on their daughter for anyone named Sonya is Strong, Independent and Wise.

Last Name

Sonya is a rare surname as it was not ranked for people of all ages in the 1990 U.S. Census. The spelling Sonya is of English descent. Spelling variations include: Sonning, Sonnin, Sonin, Soning, Sunning, Sunin, Souning, Sounin, Sonninges, Somin, Somings, and many more. The surname Sonya was first located in Berkshire where they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor. Some of the first American settlers named Sonya or some of its variants migrated in the mid-17th century to the eastern seaboard. Migrants eventually settled in Newfoundland, Maine, Virginia, The Carolinas, and the islands.

Notable people with this name

• Sonia, alias of Omaira Rojas Cabrera, FARC-EP guerrilla member
• Sônia Braga, Brazilian actress
• Sonia Evans, English pop singer
• Sonia de Ignacio, Spanish field hockey player
• Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress
• Sonia O'Sullivan, Irish athlete
• SONiA (Sonia Rutstein), American singer-songwriter
• Sonia Rykiel, French designer
• Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States

Fictional characters

• Sonia Blade in Mortal Kombat
• Sonia the Hedgehog in Sonic Underground
• Sonia Fowler in EastEnders
• Sonia Strumm in Mega Man Star Force and its sequel