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Sonja

girl name
Origin
Scandinavian
Syllables
2
Peak era
1960s/1970s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Sonja and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

variant of Sonya, wisdom

The story

Sonja is the Scandinavian and German spelling of Sonya, itself a Russian pet form of Sophia, so beneath its northern sound lies the Greek word for wisdom. Norway crowned it: Sonja Haraldsen was an Oslo merchant's daughter whose romance with Crown Prince Harald ran nine patient years, the prince, the story goes, telling his father he would marry no one else; they wed in 1968, and she has been Queen Sonja of Norway since 1991, a devoted patron of the arts and a famously avid mountain hiker. Americans had met the name earlier through another Norwegian, the skater Sonja Henie, who won three Olympic golds and then glittered across Hollywood musicals on ice. In United States records Sonja has held a modest, steady place across the generations, more familiar than flashy, a quiet northern doorway into the wisdom names.

More names with stories →

Sources list Sonja among the forms of Sophia (Croatian · Danish · Finnish · Icelandic · Macedonian · Norwegian · Serbian · Slovene · Swedish).

How popular is Sonja around the world?

In the United States, 342 babies were named Sonja between 2020 and 2025. In Norway, 162 girls were given the name Sonja in 2025.

Sonja is on the official records of the United States, Norway, Austria, Spain and Brazil.

United States

1 in 64,000

In the United States, 342 babies were named Sonja between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 1960s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Sonja peaked in the 1960s and the 1970s in nearly equal measure.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Norway

1 in 160 · register 2026

In Norway, 162 girls were given the name Sonja in 2025.

1945peak 2025

share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure

People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)

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Austria

1 in 4,800

In Austria, 16 girls named Sonja were born in 2025, the 326th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.

peak 19842025

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Spain

1 in 150,000

In Spain, 307 residents are named Sonja, ranked 3,250th among women, with a mean age of 53.3 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Brazil

1 in 330,000

At the 2022 census, 551 people in Brazil were named Sonja, ranked 12,502nd, with a median age of 58.
Among people named Sonja living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.

1940speak 1960s1990s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Canada

last on record 2022

Sonja is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.

peak 19922024

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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Chile

last on record 2003

Sonja is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

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England and Wales

last on record 2020

Sonja is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

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France

last on record 2004

Sonja is not on the 2025 record for France, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.

1920peak 19512025

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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Ireland

last on record 2012

Sonja is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Montevideo City

last on record 1988

Sonja is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

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New Zealand

last on record 1994

Sonja is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.

peak 19682025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

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Poland

last on record 2021

Sonja is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

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Scotland

last on record 1989

Sonja is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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South Australia

last on record 2015

Sonja is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.

1944peak 19662017

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Sonja

People given the name Sonja in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Sonja

Teresa Erika Lovisa Kristina Mia Selma

Keep exploring

Names of kings and queens

Name trails: explore connections from Sonja →

The Sonja deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Sonja truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Sonja fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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