Soon-ja
{{Infobox Korean name
| hangul = 순자
| hanja = {{linktext|順|子}}
| mr = Sunja
| rr = Sun-ja
}}
Soon-ja, also spelled Sun-ja, is a Korean female given name. According to South Korean government data it was the seventh-most popular name for baby girls in 1940.{{cite web|url=http://www.babyname.co.kr/menu01_09.php?standard=&val=&PAGE_NO=2|title=한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까?|publisher=babyname.co.kr|accessdate=2012-11-09}} The same characters correspond to a number of Japanese female given names, including the on'yomi reading Junko and the kun'yomi readings Ayako, Masako, Michiko, Nobuko, and Yoshiko.{{cite book|url=http://nihongo.monash.edu/cgi-bin/wwwjdic?1C|first=Jim|last=Breen|authorlink=Jim Breen|title=Japanese Names Dictionary|publisher=Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group|year=2011|access-date=9 December 2020}} It is one of a number of Japanese-style names ending in "ja", like Young-ja and Jeong-ja, that were popular when Korea was under Japanese rule, but declined in popularity afterwards.{{cite news|url=http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2007032017291&sid=010620&nid=006<ype=1|title=가장 흔한 이름은? 男 영수→민준ㆍ女 영자→서연|work=Korea Economic Daily|date=2007-03-20|accessdate=2012-12-04}} By 1950 there were no names ending in "ja" in the top ten.{{cite web|url=http://www.babyname.co.kr/menu01_09.php?cate1=14&name=|title=한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까?|publisher=babyname.co.kr|accessdate=2012-11-09}}
People with this name include:
- Soon Ja Du (born 1940), South Korean-born American convenience store owner
- Jeong Sun-ja (born 1947), South Korean diver
- Kim Sun-ja (athlete) (born 1966), South Korean sprinter
- Lee Soon-ja (born 1939), South Korean former first lady, wife of Chun Doo-hwan
- Lee Sun-ja (born 1978), South Korean sprint canoer
- Park Soon-ja (born 1966), South Korean former field hockey player