Sonder is a word coined in 2012 by writer John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows for "the realization that every passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own"; it also echoes the German prefix sonder-, "special", and the French verb sonder, "to probe". As a first name it is brand new and belongs with Soren and Sawyer among soft, literary-sounding choices. Sonder first appeared in the records in 2020 at number 9438 and has climbed every year since to number 2930 in 2025, its best rank, with 43 births.