Szonja

  • [ SON-yaw ]
  • Hungarian
Hungarian form of SONYA.

SONYA   female   Russian, English
Russian diminutive of SOPHIA. This is the name of a character in Leo Tolstoy's novel 'War and Peace' (1869, English translation 1886).
SOPHIA   female   English, Greek, German, Ancient Greek
Means "wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical, saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.

This name was common among continental European royalty during the Middle Ages, and it was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover when they inherited the British throne in the 18th century. It was the name of characters in the novels 'Tom Jones' (1749) by Henry Fielding and 'The Vicar of Wakefield' (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith. A famous bearer is the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).
FULL FORMS
HUNGARIAN: Zsófia
EQUIVALENTS
ANCIENT GREEK: Sophia
BULGARIAN: Sofiya
CATALAN: Sofia
CROATIAN: Sofija, Sonja
CZECH: Sofie, Soňa, Žofie
DANISH: Sofie, Sonja, Vivi
DUTCH: Sofie, Sonja, Sophie
ENGLISH: Sonia, Sonya, Sophia, Sophie, Sophy
ESTONIAN: Sofia
FINNISH: Sofia, Sohvi, Sonja
FRENCH: Sophie
GEORGIAN: Sopio
GERMAN: Sofia, Sofie, Sonja, Sonje, Sophia, Sophie
GREEK: Sofia, Sophia
HUNGARIAN: Zsófika
ICELANDIC: Soffía, Sonja
ITALIAN: Sofia, Sonia
LATVIAN: Sofija
LITHUANIAN: Sofija
MACEDONIAN: Sofija, Sonja
NORWEGIAN: Sofia, Sonja, Vivi
POLISH: Zofia, Zosia
PORTUGUESE: Sofia, Sonia
ROMANIAN: Sofia, Sonia
RUSSIAN: Sofiya, Sofya, Sonya
SERBIAN: Sofija, Sonja
SLOVAK: Sofia, Soňa, Žofia
SLOVENE: Sonja
SPANISH: Sofía, Sonia
SWEDISH: Sofia, Sonja, Vivi
UKRAINIAN: Sofiya
OTHER FORMS
ANCIENT GREEK: Sophos, Sophus