How Many People Are Named Sonja?
An estimated 29,643 people in the United States have the first name Sonja. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 55 years old, and Sonja peaked in popularity in 1967 with 1,343 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sonja as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Sonja paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Sonja has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
29,643
About 1 in 11,563 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
55
years old
Peak Year
1967
1,343 births
Total Registered
39,520
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sonja
Sonja is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 39,520 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Sonja as a male name
Ranked #3,659 in 1973
9 male births in 1973
Peak: 1973 (9 births)
Sonja as a female name
Ranked #2,959 in 2024
56 female births in 2024
Peak: 1968 (1,339 births)
Sonja: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sonja span from the 1900s to the 2020s, covering 13 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 10,974 babies were registered. Sonja has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sonja by Decade
How has Sonja tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Sonja by State
Birth registrations for Sonja span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Illinois. The lowest are in Rhode Island, Vermont, Wyoming. On average, about 690 Sonjas were registered per state.
Sonja + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sonja as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sonja
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sonja: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sonja?
We estimate approximately 29,643 people named Sonja are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 11,563 Americans share this first name.
Is Sonja a common name?
Sonja is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 39,520 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sonja most popular?
Sonja reached peak popularity in 1967, when 1,343 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sonja is approximately 55 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sonja a female name?
Sonja is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sonja Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sonja Smith, Sonja Johnson, Sonja Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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