Sonny: name meaning, origin & popularity
- Meaning
- “dear son”
- Origin
- English
- Say it
- SUN-ee · 2 syllables
- Used for
- Boys (96% of all uses)
Sonny began as an English nickname from 'son' and has also been used independently as a given name. It remains strongly associated with affectionate informal use.
How popular is Sonny?
Babies named Sonny in 20241,096
2024 rank#335 boys
Peak year2024
Total US babies since 188022,158
Sonny is rising: use over the last five years is 3.6× what it was a decade earlier.
Names like Sonny
Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.
Sonny questions
What does the name Sonny mean?
Sonny means "dear son". It comes from English. Sonny began as an English nickname from 'son' and has also been used independently as a given name. It remains strongly associated with affectionate informal use.
Is Sonny a boy or girl name?
Sonny is mainly a boy's name in US records (96% of uses since 1880).
How popular is Sonny?
1,096 US babies were named Sonny in 2024. Its peak year was 2024.
How do you pronounce Sonny?
Sonny is usually pronounced SUN-ee.
Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.