Sonny
Sonny is a common nickname and occasional given name. It can be a derivative of the English word "Son",[1] a name derived from the Ancient Germanic element *sunn meaning "sun",[2] a nickname derived from the Italian given names Salvatore (especially in North America, amongst Italian Americans), or the Slavic male name Slavon meaning "famous, glorious".
People with the name include:
Athletes[]
- Charles Sonny Ates (1935–2010), retired American racecar driver
- Erwin Sonny Bishop (born 1939), American football player
- Shin'ichi Sonny Chiba (born 1939), Japanese martial artist and actor
- Sonny Gray (born 1989), American baseball pitcher
- Sidney "Sonny" Hertzberg (1922–2005), American basketball player
- Ernest Sonny Hutchins (1929–2005), stock car driver
- Christian Sonny Jurgensen (born 1934), American Hall-of-Fame National Football League quarterback
- Sonny Liles (1919–2005), American football player
- Charles Sonny Liston (c. 1930–1970), American heavyweight boxer
- Robert Sonny Parker (born 1955), American former basketball player
- Wilfred Sonny Siebert (born 1937), American former baseball pitcher
- Jan Sonny Silooy (born 1963), Dutch former footballer
- Anderson da Silva (born 1970), known as Sonny Anderson, Brazilian retired footballer
- Sonny Weems (born 1986), American expatriate basketball player
- Sonny Bill Williams (born 1985), New Zealand former rugby league and rugby union player
Jazz musicians[]
- Saul Sonny Berman (1925–1947), American trumpeter
- Joseph Sonny Burke (1914–1980), American big band leader
- Conrad Sonny Clark (1931–1963), American pianist
- George Sonny Cohn (1925–2006), American trumpeter
- William Sonny Criss (1927–1977), American saxophonist
- Francis Sonny Dallas (1931–2007), American bassist
- Sonny Fortune (1939–2018), American saxophonist and flautist
- Herbert Sonny Greenwich (born 1936), Canadian guitarist
- Sonny Greer (1895–1982), American drummer
- Percival Sonny Payne (1926–1979), American drummer
- Sonny Red (1932–1981), American alto saxophonist
- Walter Theodore Sonny Rollins (born 1930), American saxophonist
- Warren Sonny Sharrock (1940–1994), American guitarist
- Huey Sonny Simmons (1933–2021), American saxophonist and English horn player
- Sonny Stitt (1924–1982), American saxophonist born Edward Boatner, Jr.
Other musicians[]
- Sonny Double 1, Welsh rapper
- Sonny Black, English singer/songwriter born William Boazman
- Salvatore Sonny Bono (1935–1998), American singer, record producer and politician
- Albert Sonny Burgess (1929–2017), rockabilly singer and guitarist
- Edwin Sonny Chillingworth (1932–1994), slack-key guitar player from Hawaii
- Albert "Sonny" Cunha (1879–1933), Hawaiian composer
- Sonny Curtis (born 1937), country and pop singer-songwriter
- Sonny Digital (born 1991), American record producer, rapper, and DJ.
- Sonny Emory (born 1962), freelance touring and studio drummer
- Sonny James (1928–2016), stage name of American country music singer James Hugh Loden
- Sonny Kay (born 1972), founder of the record label Gold Standard Laboratories
- Sonny King (singer) (1922–2006), American lounge singer born Luigi Antonio Schiavone
- Clyde Sonny Landreth (born 1951), American blues guitar player
- Sonny Moore (born 1988), better known as Skrillex, American songwriter and electronic music producer
- Sonny Fredie Pedersen, Danish musician and actor
- Sonny Sanders (1939–2016), American soul music singer-songwriter, arranger, and producer
- Paul Sonny Sandoval (born 1974), lead singer of rock band P.O.D.
- Sonny Terry (1911–1986), blind American blues musician born Saunders Terrell
- Joseph Sonny West (born 1937), American rockabilly guitarist and songwriter
- Sonny Boy Williamson I a.k.a. John Lee Williamson (1914–1948), blues singer and harmonica player
- Sonny Boy Williamson II a.k.a. Aleck Ford "Rice" Miller (c.1912–1965), blues singer and harmonica player
Other[]
- Sonny Angara (born 1972), Filipino politician
- Ralph Sonny Barger (born 1938), founding member of the original Oakland, California, chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club
- Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. (born 1936), Filipino politician
- Dominick Napolitano, also known as Sonny Black (1930–1981), Capo in the Bonanno crime family
- Alphonse Indelicato, also known as Sonny Red (1931–1981), another Capo in the Bonanno crime family, killed during the same gangland war, in which the two led opposite sides
- Sonny Caldinez (born 1932), Trinidadian actor
- Sonny Flood (born 1989), English actor who plays Josh Ashworth on Hollyoaks
- Sonny Grosso (1930–2020), police detective and movie producer from New York
- John Franzese, Sr. (1917–2020), underboss of the Colombo crime family
- William Sonny Landham (1941–2017), American actor and stuntman
- Sonny Mehta (born Ajai Singh Mehta; 1942–2019), Indian book editor
- Gillespie V. Montgomery (1920–2006), American politician
- George Sonny Perdue (born 1946), U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Governor of Georgia
- Otis Sonny Shroyer (born 1935), American actor
- Delbert Sonny West (1938–2017), American actor and stunt performer
- Harold G. White (born 1965), mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, and applied physicist
Fictional characters[]
- Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr., detective on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Sonny, a character in the 2021 Canadian-American movie Mister Sister
- Sonny, a character in 1986 the American fantasy drama film The Boy Who Could Fly
- Sonny Corinthos, in the soap opera General Hospital
- Sonny Corleone, in the film The Godfather
- James "Sonny" Crockett, an undercover police detective in the action drama television series Miami Vice
- Sonny Forelli, in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Sonny Kiriakis, on the soap opera Days of our Lives
- Sonny LoSpecchio, the main character in the film A Bronx Tale, played by Chazz Palminteri
- Sonny Lumet, a character in the American television sitcom Bosom Buddies
- Sonny Munroe, in Disney Channel Original Series Sonny with a Chance
- Sonny Spoon, a police detective character in the TV series Sonny Spoon
- Sonny Sumo, a supporting character of DC Comics' Forever People
- Sonny Valentine, in the soap opera Hollyoaks
- Sonny Weaver, Jr., main character of the 2014 film Draft Day, played by Kevin Costner
- Sonny Wolff, the father of Nat and Alex Wolff in The Naked Brothers Band
- Sonny, a robot in the film I, Robot
- Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, the mascot for Cocoa Puffs breakfast cereal
- Sonny, a well tank locomotive from Thomas & Friends
- Sonny, the protagonist of the flash video game Sonny
See also[]
- Sunny (disambiguation)
References[]
- ^ "Sonny m - Nordic Names Wiki - Name Origin, Meaning and Statistics". www.nordicnames.de. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
- ^ "Sonny f - Nordic Names Wiki - Name Origin, Meaning and Statistics". www.nordicnames.de. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
Categories:
- Nicknames
- Lists of people by nickname