Sonny

This article is about the name. For American restaurant chain, see Sonny's BBQ. For the films, see Sonny (1922 film) and Sonny (2002 film). For the song also known as "Sonny", see Sonny's Dream.

Not to be confused with Sunny.

Sonny is a common nickname and occasional given name. Often it can be a derivative of the English word "Son", a name derived from the Ancient Germanic element *sunn meaning "sun"; a nickname derived from the Italian names Salvatore, Santo, or Santino (mostly in North America amongst Italian Americans); or the Slavic male name Slavon meaning "famous or glorious" It is also a nickname for Sonita, and Sonic.

Notable 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 (1939–2021), Japanese martial artist and actor
• Sonny Gray (born 1989), American baseball pitcher
• Sidney "Sonny" Hertzberg (1922–2005), American basketball player
• Sonny Holland (1938-2022), American football coach and 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
• Frank Sonny Milano (born 1996), American ice hockey player
• Robert Sonny Parker (basketball) (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
• Sonny Lim, Hawaiian musician and slack key guitar player.
• 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 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 (1937–2022), 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
• Sonny John Moore a.k.a. Skrillex, DJ Producer

Other

• Sonny Vaccaro, American former sports marketing executive
• Sonny Angara (born 1972), Filipino politician
• Ralph Sonny Barger (1938–2022), 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
• Al 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 (1932–2022), 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
• Shridath Ramphal (born 1928), commonly called "Sonny Ramphal" or "Sir Sonny", Guyanese politician and 2nd Commonwealth Secretary-General
• 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

• Sonny, a racer character in the Malaysian animated series Rimba Racer
• 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
• Sonny, a character in the 1994 American action thriller movie Raw Justice
• Sonny Bonds, protagonist of the first three Police Quest games
• Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr., detective on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Sonny Corinthos, in the soap opera General Hospital
• Santino "Sonny" Corleone, in the film The Godfather, played by James Caan
• 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 Wortzik, main character of Dog Day Afternoon, played by Al Pacino
• 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, a robot in the film I, Robot

See also

• Sunny (name), given name and surname