Sophia

What Sophia means

Means “wisdom”

Chiefly from Latin Sophia, from Ancient Greek Σοφία (Sophía), from σοφία (sophía, “wisdom”), especially in reference to holy or divine wisdom under the influence of Biblical Hebrew חוכמה (khokhmá), to the early martyr St.

Source: Wiktionary, “Sophia” (revision 93675860), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Sophia?

US: Steady: #3 in 2015, #5 now. England & Wales: Steady: #12 in 2015, #13 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2012, when 22,336 girls got the name (#1 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 128 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 164 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 99 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (22.59 per 1,000 girls), DE (18.18 per 1,000 girls), DC (17.83 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Sophia is #5 in the US and #13 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named Sophia were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Sofia8,252 US · 1,490 E&W
• Sophie3,984 US · 724 E&W
• Sofiia9 US · 9 E&W
• Zophia18 US
• Soffia0 US · 8 E&W
• Xophia5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Sofia
• Sofya
• Sofiya
• Sofija

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Sophia

Girls

• Lilly#252Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Zoey#69Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1967, with 6 babies
• Greta#908Editor’s note Down from #575 in 2015 to #908 in 2025 in the US
• Lydia#92“the region of Lydia”^*
• Zoe#31Variant of Zoë, meaning “life”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records

For a brother

• Zander#396Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Xander#259Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Pierce#505Form of Peter, meaning “stone, rock”^*
• Damian#109“to tame”^*
• Sebastian#16“august, venerable, exalted”^*
• Isaias#426Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #426 vs #3,256 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Sophia’s. Rank is US 2025.