Sonya
[ˈsʌn.jə]Meaning
russian diminutive of Sophia, from Greek sophía, wisdom
Background Story
Sonya is a Russian diminutive of Sophia, from the Ancient Greek sophía, meaning wisdom. It was introduced into English through 19th century Russian literature and taken into general use in the early twentieth century. The name was popularised in the English-speaking world by characters in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Tolstoy's War and Peace, and later by Stephen McKenna's 1917 novel Sonia: Between Two Worlds.
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