Girls' name · peaked in 1967
Sonya name popularity since 1925
65,593 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Sonya. Half of them were born in 1971 or earlier, so the typical Sonya is about 55 years old in 2026. Sonya peaked in 1967 as the #114 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 65,593
- Named Sonya, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,939 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 65,411 girls · 182 boys
- Most popular in
- Alabama
- 2.41× its national share
Peak year is the year Sonya made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Sonya births per year, 1925–2025
1967 was the biggest year for Sonya both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1957 and 1962, Sonya became 4.6× more common, from 1 in 5,160 baby girls to 1 in 1,130.
- Steepest fall: Between 1986 and 1991, its share of baby girls fell by 51%, from 1 in 2,330 to 1 in 4,760.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Sonya's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Sonya.
Decade by decade
Babies named Sonya in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 282 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 1,655 | 0 | #463 |
| 1940s | 1,759 | 0 | #571 |
| 1950s | 3,664 | 0 | #500 |
| 1960s | 22,289 | 62 | #160 |
| 1970s | 19,468 | 88 | #154 |
| 1980s | 8,428 | 32 | #303 |
| 1990s | 3,385 | 0 | #689 |
| 2000s | 2,279 | 0 | #1,109 |
| 2010s | 1,568 | 0 | #1,414 |
| 2020–25 | 634 | 0 | #1,939 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
52.8% of babies named Sonya from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Sonya is most popular
The index compares Sonya's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Sonya.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2.41× | 2,630 |
| South Carolina | 2.03× | 1,755 |
| Georgia | 1.89× | 3,222 |
| Mississippi | 1.88× | 1,406 |
| New Mexico | 1.81× | 617 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Sonya and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Sonya (this page) | 65,411 | 1967 |
| Sonia | 65,605 | 1973 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Sonya's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Sonya.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Sonya (1967).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data