How Many People Are Named Sonya?
An estimated 55,452 people in the United States have the first name Sonya. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 51 years old, and Sonya peaked in popularity in 1967 with 2,987 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sonya 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 Sonya paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Sonya is overwhelmingly female, 182 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Sonya 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
55,452
About 1 in 6,181 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
51
years old
Peak Year
1967
2,987 births
Total Registered
65,861
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sonya
Sonya is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 65,861 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Sonya as a male name
Ranked #8,338 in 1988
5 male births in 1988
Peak: 1971 (18 births)
Sonya as a female name
Ranked #1,917 in 2024
104 female births in 2024
Peak: 1967 (2,980 births)
Sonya: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sonya span from the 1900s to the 2020s, covering 13 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 22,351 babies were registered. Sonya has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sonya by Decade
How has Sonya 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.
Sonya by State
Birth registrations for Sonya span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Vermont, Rhode Island. On average, about 1,199 Sonyas were registered per state.
Sonya + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sonya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sonya
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sonya: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sonya?
We estimate approximately 55,452 people named Sonya 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 6,181 Americans share this first name.
Is Sonya a common name?
Sonya is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.2% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 65,861 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sonya most popular?
Sonya reached peak popularity in 1967, when 2,987 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sonya is approximately 51 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sonya a female name?
Sonya is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sonya Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sonya Smith, Sonya Johnson, Sonya 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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