Sophia

Where Sophia comes from

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. Sophia, and to many figures of European royalty and nobility. Also used as a calque for the many cognate forms, such as Italian Sofia, Ukrainian Софі́я (Sofíja), Russian Софи́я (Sofíja), Polish Zofia, etc. Doublet of Sofia.
— Wiktionary's entry for Sophia
  • Ancient Greek
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1630
    Sophia of Hanover born
    Princess of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover, heir presumptive and ancestor of British monarchs following the Act of Settlement 1701
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #117 among girls — 138 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1982
    Sophia Bush born
    American actress
  4. 2012
    Peak, #1
    22,336 babies named Sophia — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2012
    The comeback
    Back to #1 after sinking to #914 in 1956.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Ancient Greek.
Namesakes
  • Sophia Bush · American actress, born 1982
  • Sophia of Hanover · Princess of the Palatinate, Electress of Hanover, heir presumptive and ancestor of British monarchs following the Act of Settlement 1701, 1630–1714
  • Sophia of Nassau · Swedish queen, 1836–1913
  • Sophia Lillis · American actress, born 2002
  • Sophia Dorothea of Celle · wife of George I of Great Britain, 1666–1726

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.