Sophia

Greek
"wisdom"

Sophia Origin and Meaning

The name Sophia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "wisdom".

Sophia, which was the Number 1 girls' name in the US from 2011 to 2013, is among the top girl names in the Western World, with a sensuous sound and high-minded meaning. A real winner, Sophia reached the top of the charts without losing any—okay, much—of its sophisticated beauty.

Derived from sophia, the Greek word for wisdom, the name was first famous via St. Sophia, venerated in the Greek Orthodox church—St. Sophia was the mother of three daughters named Faith, Hope and Love. It was first used in England in the seventeenth century and was the name of George I's both mother and wife.

Like its sister baby girl names Isabella and Olivia, Sophia has gained widespread favor by appealing to a broad range of parents: Intellectuals who like it for its meaning and those attracted to its femininity, parents who want a classic name and those looking for a name with Latin roots—the Sofia spelling is also popular. Sophie is the French version of the name, more popular than Sophia in some parts of the world. Legend Sophia Loren was originally Sofia.

Sophia has been an author favorite from the days of early novelists like Henry Fielding (Tom Jones) and Jane Austen (Persuasion) to the TV scriptwriters of today (The Walking Dead, Orange is the New Black).

Sophia's only downside is its huge popularity; it's actually even more popular than it appears, because alternate spelling Sofia falls in the Top 20 on the US popularity chart. Alternative baby names you might want to consider: Sophie, Seraphina, Susannah, Zofia.

# 5 in the US

Sophia Rank in US Top 1000

# 110 on Nameberry

Sophia Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Sophia Popularity

Famous People Named Sophia

  • Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
    Queen consort of Frederick William I of Prussia
  • Sophia Wilhelmine Marianne Henriette of Nassau
    Queen consort of Oscar II of Sweden and Norway
  • Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
    Queen consort of Frederick I of Prussia
  • Sophia Dorothea of Celle
    Electress of Hanover, repudiated wife of George I of Britain
  • Sophia Magdalena of Denmark
    Queen consort of Gustav III of Sweden
  • Aelia Sophia
    Empress consort of Justin II of the Byzantine Empire
  • Sophia of Halshany
    queen consort of Jogaila of Poland
  • Sophia of Minsk
    Queen consort of Valdemar I of Denmark
  • Sophia
    Electress of Hanover, one,time heir to the British throne
  • Sophia Loren (born Sofia Villani Scicolone)
    Italian actress
  • Sophia Matilda
    Princess of the U.K.; daughter of King George III
  • Sophia Alekseyevna
    regent of Russia
  • Sophia Anna Bush
    American actress
  • Sophia Grace Brownlee
    English child singer
  • Sophia Sampaio Abrahão
    Brazilian singer and actress
  • AnnaSophia Robb
    American actress
  • Sophia Jagiellon
    Margravine of Brandenburg,Ansbach
  • Sophia Yakovlevna Parnok
    Russian poet
  • Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne
    American painter; wife of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Sophia Kokosalaki
    Greek fashion designer
  • Sophia Jane Myles
    English actress (pronounces it "so,FY,a")
  • Sophia Amoruso
    founder of online vintage clothing shop Nasty Gal
  • Sophia Elizabeth Gennusa
    American actress
  • Sophia Müller
    Indonesian actress and singer
  • Sophia Kiely
    English actress
  • Sophia Blanche Lyon Fahs
    American Unitarian author and religious leader
  • Sophia Alexandra "Sophie" Falconer Stewart (b. 1973)
    daughter of actor Patrick Stewart
  • Sophia Richards (b. 1975)
    daughter of actor Michael Richards
  • Sophia Stockwell (b. 1985)
    daughter of actor Dean Stockwell
  • Sophia Morris
    daughter of singer Stevie Wonder
  • Sophia Tatum
    daughter of actors Bradford Tatum and Stacy Haiduk
  • Sophia Stallone (b. 1996)
    daughter of actor Sylvester Stallone
  • Sophia Aurora Silveria (b. 1999)
    daughter of drummer David Silveria of band Korn
  • Sophia Madrien Soleil Bell (b. 2001)
    daughter of singer Tara McLean
  • Sophia Eva Meloni (b. 2001)
    daughter of actor Christopher Meloni
  • Sophia Rosalinda Bratt (b. 2002)
    daughter of actors Benjamin Bratt and Talisa Soto
  • Sophia Bana (b. 2002)
    daughter of actor Eric Bana
  • Sophia Lucinda Davison (b. 2006)
    daughter of actor Bruce Davison
  • Sophia Elizabeth Wormald (b. 2008)
    daughter of actress Julia Haworth and Jon Wormald
  • Sophia Law (b. 2009)
    daughter of actor Jude Law and Samantha Burke
  • Sophia Umansky (b. 2009)
    daughter of reality TV personality Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky
  • Sophia Laurent Abraham (b. 2009)
    daughter of reality TV personality Farrah Abraham ("Teen Mom")
  • Sophia Winans (b. 2010)
    daughter of gospel singer Juan Winans
  • Sophia Grace Mitchell (b. 2010)
    daughter of actor Benjamin Mitchell
  • Sophia Marguerite Kendrick (b. 2011)
    daughter of reality TV personality Stephenie LaGrossa and baseball player Kyle Kendrick
  • Sophia Ruby Crouch (b. 2011)
    daughter of model Abbey Clancy and rugby player Peter Crouch
  • Sophia Nalçacıoğlu (b. 2011)
    daughter of Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak and Murat Nalçacıoğlu
  • Sophia Ann Grace Donald (b. 2011)
    daughter of golfer Luke Donald
  • Sophia Jane Stewart (b. 2012)
    daughter of footballers Julie Fleeting and Colin Stewart
  • Sophia Rose Gareis Ghassemieh (b. 2012)
    daughter of actress Jennifer Gareis and Bobby Ghassemieh
  • Sophia Ecclestone
    Rutland (b. 2014) , daughter of socialite Tamara Ecclestone and Jay Rutland
  • Sophia Olivia Murray (b. 2016)
    daughter of tennis player Andy Murray
  • Sophia Elizabeth Rooney (b. 2019)
    daughter of actress Christy Carlson Romano
  • Sophia 'Phia' Saban
    English actress

Sophia in Pop Culture

  • Sophia
    Japanese rock band
  • Sophia
    character in the "Fallen" series, by Lauren Kate
  • "The Adventures of Miss Sophia Berkley
    " novel and its main character
  • Sophia Western
    in "The History of Tom Jones" by Henry Fielding
  • Sophia Burset
    on TV's "Orange is the New Black"
  • Sophia Lopez
    character on TV's "Nip/Tuck"
  • Sophia Peletier
    character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
  • Sophia Petrillo
    character on TV's "The Golden Girls"
  • Sophia Hapgood
    in video game "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis"
  • Sophia Esteed
    in video game "Star Ocean: Till the End of Time"
  • Sophia
    in video game "Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi"
  • Sophia
    character in anime "Yu,Gi,Oh!"
  • Sophia Forrester
    in animated TV series "Last Exile"
  • Sophia Tutu
    on animated TV series "The Raccoons"
  • Sophia "Sophie" Williams Aubrey
    wife of Captain Jack Aubrey in Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey,Maturin" series
  • Sophia Gibson
    character in The After Series by Anna Todd