Sophia - Origin and Meaning of the name

The girl name Sophia [ 3 syll. sop-hia, so-ph-ia ] is pronounced as SowFIYah or SOWFiyah ^KEY. Sophia is mainly used in the English, German, Greek, Italian, and Russian languages, and its language of origin is Old Greek. Derived literally from the element 'sophia' which means wisdom. The name was borne by Saint Sophia, apparently not a real person; the misinterpretation of the Greek phrase 'Hagia Sophia' meaning 'holy wisdom' and its Latin equivalent 'Sancta Sophia' as a person's name 'Saint Sophia' may have given rise to the Eastern cult. The name was introduced to English speakers via Hungary and Germany in the 17th century; it was known from Electress Sophia of Hanover (1630-1714), who became the mother of George I, King of England and de facto Prince-Elector of Hanover. The name was also popularized by the Henry Fielding comic novel Tom Jones (1749), which featured a character named Sophia Western. The name was widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries, but it suffered a drop in popularity thereafter. The recent revival of the name may be attributed to the fame of the Italian actress Sophia Loren (1934-).

Sophia has 16 variations that are used in both English and other languages. Sonia, Sophie (used in French and German as well), and Sophy are variations of Sophia that are used in English.

Foreign variations of Sophia include the German, Italian, and Scandinavian Sofia, the Czech, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian Sofie, the Slavic Sofija, the Russian Sofiya, the Spanish Sofía, the German Sonja, the Hebrew Tzofiya, the Polish Zofia, the Czech Zofie, the Polish Zosia, and the Hungarian Zsófia. Specific foreign variants include the pet forms Fieke (German) and Sonya (Russian).

Sophia is very popular as a baby name for girls, and it is also viewed as trendy. The name has been growing in popularity since the 1950s. Its usage peaked recently in 2007 with 0.806% of baby girls being given the name Sophia. It ranked at #6 then. Among all girl names in its group, Sophia was the most popular in 2007. Sophia was thrice as popular as the 2nd most popular name, the German, Italian, and Scandinavian Sofia, in that year.

Baby names that sound like Sophia include the German, Italian, and Scandinavian Sofia, the Spanish Sofía, the Arabic Safia, the Arabic and Swahili Safiya, the Italian Sibella, the Russian Sofiya, the Arabic and Iranian Safa, the Czech, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian Sofie, the English, French, and German Sophie, the English Sophy, the Finnish and Scandinavian Suvi, the German and Italian Sveva, the English Sib, the English Sibb, and the Scandinavian Svea.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Sophia: S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; OW as in "oat (OW.T)" ; F as in "fee (F.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; OW as in "oat (OW.T)" ; F as in "fee (F.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"

A famous person named Sophia is Actress Sophia Loren, born Sofia Scicolone, 20 September 1934, Rome, Italy.

Popularity Trend
for Sophia
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Sophia
in 2007