Sophia Name Meaning

Sophia is a name found in much of the Christianized West. Though it originated in Greece after the time of Plato, it spread with Christianity. The name means “wisdom,” from the Greek sophos, wise. The name bears traditional dignity, was popularized by the Roman Emperor Justinian who built the Church of Saint Sophia in Constantinople, and was adopted by royalty.

If you believe that names hold power, what better name to choose for a girl than one that gifts her with wisdom? Sophia’s soft sound carries a feminine feel that tempers that wisdom with gentleness. It also connotes knowledge, power, and bravery. Perhaps a little Sophia will be a scientist in the making or a scholar for the ages.

In Christian theology Sophia is connected to the concept of Divine Wisdom, and there are numerous saints named Sophia in the Catholic Church. Her deeply religious history make her an attractive choice for parents looking for a less obvious spiritual name.

This ancient and unique name expresses the qualities that you hope she’ll have while paying homage to religious and historical traditions. Recently, the name has experienced a resurgence, entering the most popular girl names in the 2010s. Variations on the name include Sofia and Sophie.There’s also the spunky Zofie or Sonia as alternates.

Infographic of Sophia name meaning, which is From the Greek word sophos, meaning wise, Sophia also appears as Sofia.
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Sophia Name Popularity

How popular is the name Sophia? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 — 235 0.0667%
1911 — 226 0.0607%
1912 — 355 0.0704%
1913 — 392 0.0691%
1914 — 507 0.0728%
1915 — 653 0.0719%
1916 — 654 0.0677%
1917 — 670 0.067%
1918 — 592 0.0552%
1919 — 558 0.0533%
1920 — 495 0.0445%
1921 — 441 0.0385%
1922 — 353 0.0317%
1923 — 315 0.0281%
1924 — 313 0.027%
1925 — 239 0.0211%
1926 — 173 0.0157%
1927 — 196 0.0177%
1928 — 152 0.0142%
1929 — 129 0.0125%
1930 — 95 0.0091%
1931 — 85 0.0086%
1932 — 87 0.0088%
1933 — 50 0.0054%
1934 — 70 0.0072%
1935 — 51 0.0052%
1936 — 48 0.005%
1937 — 50 0.0051%
1938 — 48 0.0047%
1939 — 47 0.0046%
1940 — 55 0.0052%
1941 — 56 0.005%
1942 — 35 0.0028%
1943 — 54 0.0041%
1944 — 65 0.0052%
1945 — 58 0.0048%
1946 — 66 0.0045%
1947 — 49 0.0029%
1948 — 57 0.0036%
1949 — 77 0.0048%
1950 — 49 0.003%
1951 — 108 0.0064%
1952 — 64 0.0037%
1953 — 88 0.005%
1954 — 77 0.0042%
1955 — 112 0.0061%
1956 — 86 0.0046%
1957 — 140 0.0073%
1958 — 179 0.0095%
1959 — 239 0.0126%
1960 — 220 0.0116%
1961 — 273 0.0145%
1962 — 443 0.0241%
1963 — 482 0.0269%
1964 — 411 0.0233%
1965 — 478 0.0292%
1966 — 572 0.0366%
1967 — 563 0.0371%
1968 — 510 0.034%
1969 — 568 0.0369%
1970 — 538 0.0338%
1971 — 546 0.0363%
1972 — 439 0.0322%
1973 — 420 0.0324%
1974 — 339 0.0261%
1975 — 324 0.0252%
1976 — 325 0.0252%
1977 — 386 0.0286%
1978 — 378 0.0281%
1979 — 452 0.0321%
1980 — 583 0.0399%
1981 — 1,206 0.082%
1982 — 1,138 0.0762%
1983 — 1,167 0.0791%
1984 — 1,050 0.0706%
1985 — 1,066 0.0702%
1986 — 1,027 0.068%
1987 — 1,090 0.0714%
1988 — 1,123 0.0721%
1989 — 1,025 0.0635%
1990 — 1,093 0.0659%
1991 — 1,226 0.0752%
1992 — 1,328 0.0832%
1993 — 1,477 0.0947%
1994 — 1,585 0.1033%
1995 — 1,738 0.1153%
1996 — 2,487 0.1661%
1997 — 3,629 0.2454%
1998 — 4,302 0.2874%
1999 — 5,422 0.3621%
2000 — 6,561 0.4295%
2001 — 7,156 0.4749%
2002 — 8,664 0.5782%
2003 — 9,684 0.6365%
2004 — 10,915 0.7161%
2005 — 12,671 0.8287%
2006 — 13,499 0.8621%
2007 — 17,021 1.0788%
2008 — 16,081 1.0405%
2009 — 16,941 1.1334%
2010 — 20,639 1.4322%
2011 — 21,837 1.5327%
2012 — 22,304 1.5652%
2013 — 21,213 1.4899%
2014 — 18,598 1.2765%
2015 — 17,402 1.196%
2016 — 16,112 1.1175%
2017 — 14,831 1.0626%
2018 — 13,928 1.0138%
2019 — 13,714 1.013%
2020 — 12,809 1.0063%
2021 — 11,517 0.9421%
2022 — 12,310 0.9331%
2023 — 11,984 0.9259%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Sophia

If you like Sophia, you’ll love these other names like Sophia.

What names are diminutives of Sophia?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Sophia sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Sophia, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Fia

Flame

Latin

Sofie

Wisdom

Greek

Sophey

Wisdom

Greek

Sophie

Wisdom

Greek

What names are variants of Sophia?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Sophia.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Saffi

Wisdom

Greek

Sofia

Wisdom

Greek

Sofiah

Wisdom

Greek

Soficita

Wisdom

Greek

Sofka

Wisdom

Greek

Sofya

Wisdom

Greek

Sonia

A Slavonic form of Sophia.

Greek

Sonja

Wisdom

Greek

Sonnie

Wisdom

Greek

Sonya

Wisdom

Greek

Sophea
Zofi

Wisdom

Greek

Zofia

Wisdom

Greek

Zofya

Wisdom

Greek

Zosia

Wisdom

Greek

What names sound like Sophia?

If you like how Sophia sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Sophia.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Safia

Friend; pure

African

What names are similar to Sophia?

Find a name that’s like Sophia, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Amalia

Industrious, striving; work; rival; laborious; eager

Latin

Amelia

Work

German

Camellia

Helper to the priest

Latin

Dahlia

Dahlia flower

Scandinavian

Delia

From Delos

Greek

Isabella

Devoted to God

Italian

Lydia

From Lydia

Greek

Miranda

Admirable

Latin

Sabrina

“The siren from the river Severn,” in allusion to a legendary princess.

Celtic

Sylvia

Woods, forest

Latin

Lists With Sophia

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Sophia.

Siblings of Sophia

Mamas with kids named Sophia also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Hanna

He (God) has favored me

Hebrew

Arturo

An Italian and Spanish form of Arthur.

Italian

Amelia

Work

German

Kaiya

Forgiveness

Japanese

Bryson

Son of Brice

English

Jasper

Treasurer

English

Otto

Wealth

German

Kali

The black one

Indian (Sanskrit)

Ruth

Friend

Hebrew

Seraphim

Angel

Latin

Faith

Devotion

English

36 Comments

  1. Hello my name is sophia my parent have already told me that sophia means wisdom, so i decide to search it by my self i just got the same answer am so glad.

    Reply

  2. Always thought if I had a girl I would name her Sophia
    Simply like the sound it makes, dislike how know theirs a lot names like that

    Reply

  3. We chose this name because we want to bless her with God’s wisdom and because of the legacy of amazing orthodox saints that have this first name.

    Reply

  4. sophia is my name

    Reply

  5. It is elegant and feminine. It has Italian roots (as our family does) and does not have any crazy nicknames associated with it.

    Reply

  6. Sophia means wisdom in Greek. We pray that she would gain the wisdom she needs to share the good news to those around her that Jesus Christ has come to saved them.

    Reply

  7. Sophia means “wisdom” in greek
    My husband and I loved what her names means and we pray that she grows to be wise in the eyes of God rather than man.

    Reply

  8. I Think The Name Sophia is Very Intresting and cool, Yes i am a Soccer player yes, i used to hate my name but you gotta move on in life right?

    Reply

  9. I’m called Sophia, named after Sophia Loren. I used to hate my name, but adore it now. I couldn’t ask for a better name to carry me through life.

    Reply

  10. Her father picked Sophia because it means wisdom and I picked her middle name Eden . Eden meaning pleasure, because she is just that to my little baby I love so much!

    Reply

  11. It’s a classic name.

    Reply

  12. I’ve always liked that name! It’s cute and elegant

    Reply

  13. Sophia is a great choice for a name, utterly immaculate
    10/10 in my opinion, not biased at all :))

    Reply

  14. Sophia is a good name, and Sofia is an alternative spelling, and Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria too!

    Reply

  15. My husband and I are high school sweethearts and we’ve had the name Sophia picked out since high school so that’s what we names our daughter.

    Reply

  16. I’ve just always loved the name

    Reply

  17. As soon as we saw it on the baby list of names, we fell in love with it! And now that she’s here, it fits her perfectly!

    Reply

    • No wonder why I’m smart I’m named Sophia!

      Reply

  18. It came to me in a dream a couple years before I thought about having kids. When we found out we were having a girl, it was easy.

    Reply

  19. Family name

    Reply

  20. We chose it because it sounded nicr

    Reply

  21. Sophia means “wise” which sounded neat for our firstborn who will be a role model to future younger siblings. I also thought it sounded like a beautiful name for our girl, and I loved the sound of “Sophie” for a nickname!

    Reply

  22. From your YouTube video on baby girl names and their meanings. It was the only name we both liked in the whole list, and was a ‘similar name’ to isabella, the name we used for our dog and loved. About 15 mins after listening to your YouTube video I was guided to pick a card from my goddess deck and pulled the ‘Sophia’ goddess card, so confirming that was the name we should be using! ? thank you so much for that video!

    Reply

  23. I have always loved the name Sophia and think it’s a very feminine and classic name that can fit both my Hispanic background and my husband’s Azerbaijani Background

    Reply

  24. Greek word for wisdom. It’s also a very popular name that everyone loves.

    Reply

  25. Sophia means wisdom.

    Reply

  26. I love her name

    Reply

  27. It’s extremely popular, but it was perfect for my daughter, so we used it anyway.

    Reply

  28. My daughter Sophia is definitely a character. She is very sassy, witty and sarcastic in all the best ways. She reminds me of the Sophia off the Golden Girls and that’s what I love about my daughter’s name. She is my Sophia and always will be.

    Reply

  29. We have a baby girl and praying about which Christian Name to choose, but I found the name Sophia and just love it

    Reply

  30. Its classic

    Reply

  31. I heard it berore and loved it

    Reply

  32. We had this name picked out years before my daughter was born. It sounds beautiful and is pronounced the same in multiple languages, important to us because of the ethnic diversity of our family (Greek, Filipino, Venezuelan). My only (very small) regret is that it’s like the new “Jennifer” and there are usually at least a few others in her grade. But she doesn’t seem to mind and loves her own name. It’s a classic. We named both of our kids after saints. Names like this never sound trendy or go out of style. We chose to spell it with a “ph” and gave her a less common middle name, which is also Greek: Melina 🙂

    Reply

  33. We thought of her name within weeks of finding our we were pregnant with a girl. We tossed around a couple other names like Ellie or Chloe or even different ways to spell Sophia such as Sofia or even naming her Sophie but we love the original way of spelling it and the full name. Her middle name took a little but longer … I saw Gray in one of my Facebook mom groups and shared it with her Dad at first he didn’t like it…. until he said it out loud, Sophia Gray. We never looked back! We had her name picked out probably around month 5!

    Reply

  34. Sophia is my eighth baby, third girl, and my rainbow baby after 4 miscarriages. I have always loved the name Sophie, and longed to be able to use it finally. My girls’ names are Emma and Lydia, so her name had to end in an a. My youngest boy calls her soaps, this is the only downside that I can think of, but even that is pretty cute. Her full name is for lots of ancestors, Sophia Elizabeth Amelia Lorraine. In scrapbooks, I sometimes put Sophia etc, which is how her oldest brother lists her name. Above all, it suits her and she recognized her name by five months.

    Reply

  35. We chose the name Sophia for the same reason as Hanna my husband is Lebanese and I am Canadian and it works for both sides.

    Reply

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