According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Sonja was very trendy during the latter half of the 1930s:
- 1940: 713 baby girls named Sonja [rank: 238th]
- 1939: 862 baby girls named Sonja [rank: 203rd]
- 1938: 1,117 baby girls named Sonja [rank: 180th]
- 1937: 560 baby girls named Sonja [rank: 263rd]
- 1936: 180 baby girls named Sonja [rank: 479th]
- 1935: 92 baby girls named Sonja [rank: 704th]
- 1934: 86 baby girls named Sonja [rank: 723rd]
Why?
Because of Norwegian figure skater-turned-actress Sonja Henie (pronounced SOHN-yah HEN-ee).
In the late 1930s, after dominating the world of figure skating for many years, Sonja decided to give Hollywood a shot. She boldly told a New York Times reporter, “I want to do with skates what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing.”
And you know what? She did exactly that.
After winning her third Olympic gold medal in early 1936, she kicked off a successful ice-show tour that stopped in various U.S. cities. Film producer Darryl F. Zanuck (father of Darrylin) saw her perform in Los Angeles and signed her to a contract. She went on to star in a string of box-office hits, including One in a Million (1936), Thin Ice (1937) with Tyrone Power (father of Romina and Taryn), and My Lucky Star (1938).
Her movies and touring ice shows made her very wealthy and very famous — “the first international athlete-actress-superstar of modern times.” Today she’s credited with inspiring an entire generation of figure skaters.
Her first name and its variant spellings (such as Sonya and Sonia) are diminutives of Sofiya, the Russian form of the Greek name Sophia.
What are your thoughts on the name Sonja?
P.S. The baby name that debuted in the data most impressively in 1938 was the Sonja-inspired Sonjia…
Sources:
- Jacobs, Laura. “Sonja Henie’s Ice Age.” Vanity Fair 11 Feb. 2014.
- Sonja Henie: A Singular Star – Indiana University Cinema
- “Sonja Henie deserts amateur ranks; will tour pro circuit soon.” Lewiston Daily Sun 18 Mar. 1936: 7.
- SSA
Image: Screenshot of One in a Million
[Latest update: Oct. 2025]