“Wisdom,” straight from the Greek Well established
Meaning: “wisdom.” Sofía (and Sofia, and Sophia) all come from the Greek sophía (σοφία), “wisdom,” from sophós, “wise.” It is one of those names whose meaning is exactly what it looks like, with no hidden dispute.12
Holy Wisdom
From a Greek idea to a great church
In the Greek world Sophia was “wisdom” personified, and in Christian tradition “Holy Wisdom” (Hagía Sophía). The vast sixth-century cathedral in Constantinople, now Istanbul, was dedicated to that Holy Wisdom and still carries the name Hagia Sophia.3
An early Christian martyr, Saint Sophia, helped carry the name into use across Europe, where it became a favourite of empresses and queens.3
Popularity over time
A modern favourite, in two spellings at once
2015 · 9,7119,7110
18812025
U.S. · 1881–2025 · counts of people issued a Social Security number, not a full count of births. Live series on the published page.
Sofia and Sophia both surged in the United States from the 1990s on, riding the wider love of soft, classic, internationally-friendly names. Because the two spellings are counted separately, neither number alone captures how common the sound really is.
Usage & existence
How often is Sofía recorded?
186,931
recorded use · U.S. since 1881
Active
still given today
~100% girls
gender usage
1881
first appears in the data
The figures attach to the exact spelling. The numbers on this page are for Sofia as recorded in US data, which lists the unaccented spelling; the accented Sofía is the same name written in Spanish style. The very similar Sophia is a separate spelling with its own, even larger count, so the two are never merged. These are recorded uses since 1880, not living people, and bounded by the dataset. The living figure above is an estimate built from these records and official life tables: how we estimate it.
Each spelling is counted separately in the rarity data. Sofia and Sophia are the same Greek name written two ways, but they are never silently merged: the accent on Sofía and the “ph” in Sophia each get their own count.
Notable use · compactBearers span both spellings of the name: Sophia of Hanover (1630 to 1714), the heiress through whom the British royal line descends; the Italian actress Sofia Loren (born 1934, billed Sophia); and the early Christian martyr Saint Sophia. (Because the famous bearers are split across the Sofia and Sophia spellings, we show a compact note rather than imply they all belong to one spelling.)
The honest verdict
Our call · subjective
Warm in nearly every language, spellable in two directions. Decide Sofia-or-Sophia early and hold the line; the records treat them as different names, and so will every form she ever fills in.
How rare is your Sofía?
See exactly how many share the name in your country and birth year, with real data.
Bearers (Sophia of Hanover 1630–1714; Sofia Loren b. 1934; Saint Sophia) via Wikipedia / Wikidata structured data.
Meaning is Well established (Greek sophía, “wisdom”), cited to a modern authority and the public-domain Liddell & Scott lexicon. We are explicit that the US data records the unaccented spelling Sofia, and that Sophia is a separate spelling counted separately, never silently merged. Cultural facts are referenced, not reproduced; bearer dates are from public structured data.