First Name
17k
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
243
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
Boys
On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Sonny
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Sonny
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Ethnicity Distribution
  9. Fun Facts
  10. What Sonnys Have Visited This Page?
  11. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Sonny

  • Automated Male (English)
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  • Automated Female (English)
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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Sonny mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Sonny

User Submitted Meanings

  • According to a user from Australia, the name Sonny is of English origin and means "Gift Of God".
Other origins: Arabic

Submit the origin and/or meaning of Sonny to us below

Other Dictionary Sources
  1. A male child (a familiar term of address to a boy)
    Synonyms: cub, lad, laddie, and sonny boy
Wiktionary
  1. A nickname of a child.
  2. A male given name.
  3. A female given name

Sonny was also found in the following language(s): Danish and Swedish

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Notable Persons Named Sonny

Skrillex

Skrillex is an electronic dance music, dubstep, electro house, and post-hardcore musician. His ongoing career started in 2002. Skrillex was given the name Sonny John Moore on January 15th, 1988 in Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Popularity:
Sonny Bono

Sonny Bono was a Mayor of Palm Springs. Sonny was given the name Salvatore Phillip Bono on February 16th, 1935 in Detroit, Michigan, US. He left this life on January 5th, 1998.

Popularity:
Sonny Liston

Sonny Liston was a boxer. Sonny was born in Sand Slough, Arkansas, U.S. He passed away on December 30th, 1970.

Popularity:
Sonny Perdue

Sonny Perdue is a Governor of Georgia. Sonny was given the name George Ervin Perdue III on December 20th, 1946 in Perry, Georgia, U.S.

Popularity:
Sonny Bill Williams

Sonny Bill Williams is a rugby player. Sonny was born on August 3rd, 1985 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Popularity:
Sonny Barger

Sonny Barger is an author. Sonny was given the name Ralph Hubert Barger on October 8th, 1938 in Modesto, California.

Popularity:
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Notable Persons With the Last Name Sonny

Will and Sonny

Popularity:
Little Sonny

Little Sonny is an electric blues musician, harmonicist, singer, songwriter, photographer, and list of harmonicists. He was most prominent from 1952 to present. Little was given the name Aaron Willis on October 6th, 1932 in Greensboro, Alabama, United States. Little is also known as Little Sonny.

Popularity:
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How popular is the baby name Sonny in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born
1888 7 0 7
1892 5 0 5
1893 5 0 5
1895 6 0 6
1896 6 0 6
1897 5 0 5
1898 5 0 5
1900 13 0 13
1901 5 0 5
1902 6 0 6
1903 6 0 6
1904 13 0 13
1905 8 0 8
1906 7 0 7
1907 10 0 10
1908 8 0 8
1909 11 0 11
1910 9 0 9
1911 14 0 14
1912 18 0 18
1913 8 0 8
1914 18 0 18
1915 17 0 17
1916 29 0 29
1917 22 0 22
1918 20 0 20
1919 28 0 28
1920 27 0 27
1921 28 0 28
1922 30 0 30
1923 28 0 28
1924 28 0 28
1925 35 0 35
1926 23 0 23
1927 52 0 52
1928 59 0 59
1929 77 0 77
1930 91 0 91
1931 67 0 67
1932 84 0 84
1933 105 0 105
1934 134 0 134
1935 145 0 145
1936 119 0 119
1937 124 0 124
1938 116 0 116
1939 97 0 97
1940 111 0 111
1941 98 0 98
1942 123 6 117
1943 127 0 127
1944 136 0 136
1945 99 0 99
1946 129 0 129
1947 142 0 142
1948 124 0 124
1949 119 0 119
1950 120 0 120
1951 111 0 111
1952 127 5 122
1953 130 0 130
1954 135 7 128
1955 130 5 125
1956 141 0 141
1957 156 7 149
1958 168 0 168
1959 116 0 116
1960 150 5 145
1961 138 0 138
1962 132 5 127
1963 129 0 129
1964 133 0 133
1965 124 0 124
1966 120 0 120
1967 155 0 155
1968 176 7 169
1969 176 0 176
1970 192 0 192
1971 218 12 206
1972 269 6 263
1973 281 8 273
1974 281 0 281
1975 345 9 336
1976 286 12 274
1977 215 5 210
1978 268 7 261
1979 231 10 221
1980 235 14 221
1981 255 21 234
1982 216 7 209
1983 177 10 167
1984 204 7 197
1985 208 9 199
1986 279 7 272
1987 239 13 226
1988 295 21 274
1989 301 12 289
1990 254 13 241
1991 247 11 236
1992 199 10 189
1993 205 15 190
1994 167 11 156
1995 193 8 185
1996 164 11 153
1997 173 17 156
1998 181 15 166
1999 177 12 165
2000 194 11 183
2001 205 9 196
2002 220 11 209
2003 240 10 230
2004 222 10 212
2005 250 9 241
2006 236 12 224
2007 249 9 240
2008 257 11 246
2009 260 12 248
2010 230 18 212
2011 254 22 232
2012 240 19 221
2013 264 13 251
2014 258 16 242
2015 300 26 274
2016 285 18 267
2017 330 30 300
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Where is the name Sonny popular?

View popular names by state or region.

Popularity of Sonny as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Sonny as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Hawaii, California, or Texas.

Popularity of Sonny as a last name

The map shows the absolute popularity of the name Sonny as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in Ohio, New York, or Pennsylvania.

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Common last names for Sonny

  • Johnson
  • Williams
  • Jones
  • Brown
  • Smith
  • Wilson
  • Thomas
  • White
  • Cooper
  • Hayes
  • Fields

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Sonny U.S.
â–ˆ  White 20.99% 64.26%
â–ˆ  African American 41.98% 11.96%
â–ˆ  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 16.87% 4.85%
â–ˆ  American Indian and Alaska Native 13.58% 0.69%
â–ˆ  Two or More Ethnicities 2.88% 1.76%
â–ˆ  Hispanic or Latino 3.70% 16.26%

Of Last Name Sonny

People with the last name Sonny are most frequently White, African American, Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander, or American Indian and Alaska Native

Entire United States

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Fun Facts about the name Sonny

  • How Popular is the name Sonny? Sonny is the 1,822nd most popular name of all time. As a last name Sonny was the 78,567th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Sonny have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 17,202 babies born with the first name Sonny in the United States. That's more than enough people named Sonny to occupy the territory of Anguilla (United Kingdom) with an estimated population of 15,236 (as of July 1, 2011).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Sonny? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1888 when it was given as a first name to 7 new born babies.
  • When was Sonny first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Sonny is Friday, March 25th, 1870.
  • What year had the most people named Sonny born? The highest recorded use of the first name Sonny was in 1975 with a total of 336 babies.
  • Random Sonny Factoid: According to the 1990 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Sonny is not a popular baby boy's name in Illinois. Imagine that, only 8 babies in Illinois have the same name as you in 1990.
  • Weird things about the name Sonny: Your name in reverse order is Ynnos. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Ynons. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Sonny? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 243 people with the last name Sonny.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Sonny? Chances are, most people haven't met someone with Sonny as their last name since less than 1 person in 1.3m people have that last name. If you know one, consider yourself lucky!
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What Sonnys Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Sonny

Name poster for Sonny(click to save the high quality version)

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All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • Other Dictionary Sources: WordNet 3.1 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University (License).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.