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If you love Sophia you might like...

onomasticsnerd
By onomasticsnerd
Updated Wed Jun 18 2025
If you add up the spellings, just over 1 in 100 girls born in 2024 were named Sophia, making it the most popular girls' name in the US last year. If you add the spellings for every year, it's been the most popular girl's name in the US since 2007. We've had thousands of Sophias a year for decades, not just in the US but in handfuls of other countries as well. Of course, this is because it's a beautiful name, but not everyone can be Sophia, now can she? We need to mix it up a little, because there are plenty of names that match Sophia's beauty and charm without the extreme popularity.
  1. Phoebe

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "radiant, shining one"

    • Description:

      Bubbly, bright, and versatile, Phoebe is a name with mythological, biblical, and literary ties. Used since the 17th century, it fell out of fashion in the US during the '60s, only to be revived after it appeared in the 90's TV favorite, Friends.
  2. Thea

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "goddess, godly"

    • Description:

      Thea is a diminutive of names ending in -thea, including Dorothea, Althea, and Anthea. It is also the Anglicized spelling of Theia, the Titan of sight, goddess of light, and mother of the moon. She was the consort of Hyperion, and mother of Helios, Selene, and Eos.
  3. Sophie

    • Origin:

      French variation of Sophia

    • Meaning:

      "wisdom"

    • Description:

      Sophie is the French form of the Greek Sophia, for which it is also commonly used as a nickname. Given Sophia's long standing among the Top 10 girl names in the US, Sophie may feel more popular than it actually is.
  4. Ophelia

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "help"

    • Description:

      Floral, elegant, and bold, Ophelia re-entered the US Top 1000 in 2015 after more than 50 years off the charts. It has risen more than 700 spots since then and shows no signs of slowing down. Now in the US Top 300, could Ophelia one day become the next Olivia or Amelia?
  5. Seraphina

    • Origin:

      Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "ardent; fiery"

    • Description:

      Seraphina is one of the most-searched name on Nameberry, destined for even greater popularity. The highest-ranking angels, the six-winged seraphim, inspired the lovely name Seraphina.
  6. Lucia

    • Origin:

      Italian, feminine variation of Lucius, Latin

    • Meaning:

      "light"

    • Description:

      Lucia is a lush, rich Latinate equivalent of Lucy, popular in Spain and throughout Latin America and also a cross-cultural favorite. You might be surprised to know that Lucia has ALWAYS ranked among the Top 1000 girl names in the US, though she's really taken off only since the turn of this century.
  7. Felicity

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "good fortune, happy"

    • Description:

      Felicity is as accessible a virtue name as Hope and Faith, but much more feminine -- and dare we say, happier. The hit TV show did a lot to soften and modernize the once buttoned-up image of Felicity, and it got further notice as the red-haired Colonial doll, Felicity Merriman, in the American Girl series. A current bearer is actress Felicity Huffman.
  8. Saffron

    • Origin:

      Spice name

    • Meaning:

      "orange-yellow color; a type of crocus"

    • Description:

      Spice names are increasingly appealing to the senses of prospective parents; this one, belonging to a precious spice derived from the crocus has a vaguely orange-scented-incense sixties feel.
  9. Fiona

    • Origin:

      Scottish

    • Meaning:

      "white, fair"

    • Description:

      Fiona entered the American consciousness with the opening of the 1954 Broadway musical Brigadoon, but didn't come onto the U.S. popularity list until 1990.
  10. Sylvia

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "from the forest"

    • Description:

      The musical, sylvan Sylvia seems poised to join former friends Frances and Beatrice and Dorothy back in the nursery.
  11. Althea

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "with healing power"

    • Description:

      Althea is a poetic, almost ethereal name found in Greek myth and pastoral poetry, associated in modern times with the great tennis player Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win at Wimbledon.
  12. Camilla

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "young ceremonial attendant"

    • Description:

      The Spanish Camila, pronounced ka-MEE-la, is the fastest rising version of this ancient Roman name, but recent royal Camilla may have helped promote the British brand. In Roman myth, Camilla was a swift-footed huntress so fast she could run over a field without bending a blade of grass.
  13. Athena

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "from Athens"

    • Description:

      Magical and distinctive but grounded and familiar too, it's no surprise that Athena has become one of the most widely used ancient goddess names in the contemporary Western world. Derived from the city name Athens, it is current a Top 100 choice in the US.
  14. Theodora

    • Origin:

      Feminine variation of Theodore, Greek

    • Meaning:

      "gift of God"

    • Description:

      Theodora is one of the most revival-worthy of the charmingly old-fashioned Victorian valentine names, softly evocative but still substantial, as is the reversed-syllable Dorothea.
  15. Aaliyah

    • Origin:

      Variation of Aliya, Arabic

    • Meaning:

      "heavens, highborn, exalted"

    • Description:

      Both powerful and pretty, with a melodic sound, Aaliyah joins Layla, Lila, Zara, and Aisha as a name of Arabic origin that is also popular in the English-speaking world.
  16. Sonia

    • Origin:

      Russian and Scandinavian variation of Sophia

    • Meaning:

      "wisdom"

    • Description:

      Early European import, well known in the 1940s via Norwegian skating movie star Sonja Henie, that has sailed back across the Atlantic, despite the rising popularity of other Russian names.
  17. Phaedra

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "bright"

    • Description:

      This name of a tragic figure in Greek mythology, the daughter of King Minos, sister of Ariadne and wife of Theseus, has a mysterious and intriguing appeal, and would make a dramatic choice.
  18. Philomena

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "lover of strength"

    • Description:

      Philomena is an earthy Greek name now used in various Latin countries. While it has felt simply clunky for many years, it's starting -- along with such sister names as Wilhelmina and Frederica -- to sound so clunky it's cool.
  19. Elvira

    • Origin:

      Spanish

    • Meaning:

      "white, fair"

    • Description:

      Before there was the campy TV Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Elvira was the long-suffering wife of Don Juan, and remnants of those negative, gothic images still cling to it, though they are fading.

      Other references include the romantic film Elvira Madigan, based on a real person, and the main ghostly character in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, as well as appearances in several operas.

  20. Euphemia

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "fair speech"

    • Description:

      Ancient martyr's name that, though not especially appealing, might still be mildly possible, especially for Anglophiles. It was widely used in early Scotland, but was overtaken by its nickname, Effie.