Sophia, also spelled Sofia, is a feminine given name, from Greek Sophia (wisdom), Σοφία, '' Sophía'', "Wisdom". Other forms include Sophie, Sophy, and Sofie. The given name is first recorded in the beginning of the 4th century. It is a common female name in the Eastern Orthodox countries. It became very popular in the West beginning in the later 1990s and became one of the most popularly given girls' names in the Western world in the first decades of the 21st century.

Popularity

Sophia (wisdom), Sophia was known as the personification of wisdom by early Christians and Saint Sophia of Rome, Saint Sophia is also an early Christian martyr. Both associations contributed to the usage of the name. The name was comparatively common in continental Europe in the medieval and early modern period. It was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover in the 18th century. It was repeatedly popularised among the wider population, by the name of a character in the novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Tom Jones'' (1794) by Henry Fielding, in ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith, and in the 1960s by Italian actress Sophia Loren (b. 1934). ''Sophia'' was comparatively popular in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century; its use declined in the 1920s to 1950s; it became again moderately popular during the 1960s to 1980s. During the 1990s to the 2010s, the popularity of the name rose dramatically in many countries throughout the western world. Suggested influences for this trend include Sofía Vergara and Sofia Coppola (popular from the late 1990s) and Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland, Sofia Hellqvist (popular from the 2000s).Olivia Petter
This is the most popular girl's name in the world
25 October 2017. Miranda Larbi
Sofia is the most popular girl’s name in the world
Metro.co.uk, 26 October 2017. Catriona Harvey-Jenner
This is the most popular baby name for girls in the world
Cosmopolitan, 26 October 2017. ''Sophia'' and variants of the name remain among the most currently popularly given names for girls in countries across Europe as well as countries in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and others.SophiaSofia
(behindthename.com)

Name variants

Greek Σοφία was adopted without significant phonological changes into numerous languages, as ''Sophia'' (German, and thence English) and ''Sofia'' (Romance languages, and thence also to Germanic languages and Finnish, etc.). The spelling ''Soffia'' is Icelandic and Welsh. Hungarian has ''Zsófia''. Modern Spanish uses the acute diacritic, ''Sofía''. South and East Slavic and Baltic languages have ''Sofija (given name), Sofija'' (Софија), ''Sofiya (given name), Sofiya'' (София) and ''Sofya (given name), Sofya'' (Софья). West Slavic (Polish and Czech-Slovak) introduced a voiced sibilant, ''Zofia, Žofia, Žofie''. French has the (disyllabic) hypocoristic ''Sophie'', which was also introduced in German, Dutch/Flemish, English and Scandinavian in the spelling ''Sofie'' and ''Sophy''. A Dutch hypocoristic is ''Sofieke''. Russian has the hypocoristic Sonia (name), Соня (''Sonya''), which in the late 19th century was introduced to Western languages, in the spellings ''Sonya'', ''Sonia'' and ''Sonja'', via characters with this name in the novels ''Crime and Punishment'' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866, English translation 1885) and ''War and Peace'' by Leo Tolstoy (1869, English translation 1886). Turkish Safiye is from the unrelated Arabic Safiya, Safiyya ( "pure"). Persian Sofia (given name), Sofia (Persian language, Persian: صوفیا) is from unrelated Sufi, a sect of Islam.

People

Saints

* Saint Sophia of Milan, feast day 17 September * Saint Sophia of Rome, martyr, feast day 15 May * Saint Sophia of Sortino (Sicily), martyr, feast day 23 SeptemberPaul Guerin, ''Les petits Bollandistes vies des saints'' (1874)
p. 552
/ref> * Saint Sophia of Fermo (March of Ancona), feast day 30 April * Saints Sophia and Irene of Egypt (3rd century), feast day 4 June * Saint Sophia of Thrace (9th century), feast day 4 June * Saint Sofia of Suzdal (d. 1542), see Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova * Saint Sophia of Slutsk (d. 1612), see Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill

Royalty

Sofia

* Sofia of Bavaria Wittelsbach (1376–1425), Queen of Bohemia * Queen Sofía of Spain (born 1938), Queen consort of Spain * Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland (born 1984), wife of Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland * Infanta Sofía of Spain (born 2007), Spanish princess

Sophia

* Sophia (empress) , Sophia (530–c. 601), Byzantine empress * Sophia of Minsk (d. 1198), Danish queen * Sophia Palaiologina (1455–1503), Grand Duchess of Moscow * Sophia of Hanover (1630–1714), heir to the English throne * Sophia Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1636–1689), German noblewoman * Sophia Alekseyevna (1657–1704), Russian regent * Sophia Dorothea of Celle (1666–1726), Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, wife of George I of Great Britain * Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687–1757), Queen consort of Prussia, daughter of George I of Great Britain * Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1700–1770), Queen consort of Denmark-Norway * Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia (1719–1765), daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover * Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1736–1798), Duchess of Württemberg * Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1758–1794), Princess and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin * Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom (1768–1840), Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg * Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom (1777–1848), British princess * Princess Sophia of Gloucester (1773–1844), British princess * Sophia Sidney, Baroness De L'Isle and Dudley (1796–1837), daughter of William IV * Sophia of Nassau (1836–1913), Queen consort of Sweden and Norway * Sophia of Prussia (1870–1932), Queen consort of Greece

other versions

* Safiye Sultan (wife of Murad III), Safiye Sultan (1550–1619), wife of Murad III, mother of Mehmed III; originally named Sofia * Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark (1914–2001), later Princess of Hesse, Princes of Hannover * Sophie, Countess of Wessex (born 1965), wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

Arts and entertainment industry

* Sofia (Swedish singer) (nee Sofia Berntson), Swedish singer * Sophia Abrahão (born 1991), Brazilian actress * Sophia Agranovich, Ukrainian-American pianist, recording artist and music educator * Sophia Aliberti (born 1963), Greek actress and TV presenter * Sofia Andres, (born 1998), Filipina actress and commercial model * Sofia Carson (born 1993), American singer and actress * Sofiko Chiaureli (1937–2008), Georgian actress * Sofia Coppola (born 1971), American actress and director * Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919–2004), Portuguese poet * Sophia Baddeley (1745–1786), English actress * Sophia Bush (born 1982), American actress * Sophia Di Martino (born 1983), English actress * Sofia Djama, Algerian film director * Sophia Dussek (1775–1831), Scottish composer * Sofia Essaïdi (born 1984), Franco-Moroccan singer * Sofia Gubaidulina (born 1931), Russian-Tatar composer * Sophia Peabody Hawthorne (1809–1871), American painter * Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912), English physician * Sofia Karlsson (singer), Sofia Karlsson (born 1975), Swedish musician * Sophia Karp (1861–1904), Romanian actress * Sophia Kokosalaki (1972–2019), Greek fashion designer * Zofia Kossak-Szczucka (1889–1968), Polish writer * Sophia Laskaridou, Greek artist * Sophia Lee (1750–1824), English novelist * Sophia Loren (born 1934), Italian actress * Sofia Martins de Sousa (1870–1960), Portuguese painter * Sophia McDougall (born 1979), British author * Sophia Michahelles (born 1976), American puppeteer * Sofia Milos (born 1969), Swiss actress * Sophia Myles (born 1980), English actress * Zofia Nałkowska, Polish writer, author of ''Medallions'' * Sophia Yakovlevna Parnok (1885–1933), Russian poet * Sophia Romero, American writer * Sofia Rotaru (born 1947), Ukrainian singer * Sofia Samatar (born 1971), Somali-American writer * Sofia Shinas (born 1968), Canadian artist * Sofía Tartilán (1829–1888), Spanish writer * Sophie Turner (born 1996), English Actress * Sofia Vembo, Greek singer * Sofia Vassilieva (born 1992), American actress * Sofía Vergara (born 1972), Colombian model and actress * Sophia Vossou (born 1961), Greek singer * Sofia Wylie (born 2004), American actress * Sophia Yan (born 1986), American classical pianist * Sofie Zamchick (born 1994), American singer and actress

Sports

* Sofia Akhmeteli (born 1981), Georgian alpine skier * Sofia Arvidsson (born 1984), Swedish tennis player * Sofia Asoumanaki, Greek rower * Sophia Diagne (born 1998), Senegalese swimmer * Sophia Ellis (born 1996), British powerlifter * Sofia Bekatorou (born 1977), Greek sailor and Olympic gold medalist * Sophia Flörsch (born 2000), German racing driver * Sofia Iosifidou, Greek water polo player * Sofia Kenin, American tennis player * Sophia Koggouli, Greek footballer * Sofia Konukh (born 1980), Russian water polo player * Sophia Morgan, Fijian sailor * Sofía Mulánovich (born 1983), Peruvian surfer * Sofia Muratova (1929–2006), Russian gymnast * Sofia Papadopoulou (born 1983), Greek sailor * Sofia Polgar, Hungarian-born Israeli and Canadian chess grandmaster * Sofia Riga, Greek runner * Sofia Sakorafa (born 1957), Greek javelin thrower and politician * Sofia Tikhonova (born 1998), Russian ski jumper * Sofia Yfantidou, Greek track and field athlete * Sofiya Bozhanova (born 1967), Bulgarian long and triple jump

Other

* Sophia Aggelonitis, Canadian politician * Sofia Amloh (born 1986), Swedish politician * Sophia Hayden Bennett (1868–1953), American architect * Sophia Brahe (1556–1643), Danish astronomer * Sophia Collier (born 1956), American entrepreneur * Sophia Drossopoulou, Greek computer scientist * Sophia Eckerson (1880–1954), American botanist and microchemist * Sophia Forero (born 1967), American jewelry designer * Sophia Getzowa (1872–1946), Belarusian-Israeli pathologist and scientist * Sophia Orne Johnson (1826–1899), American author * Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891), Russian mathematician * Murder of Sophie Lancaster, Sophie Lancaster (1986–2007), English murder victim * Sophia Leung (born 1933), Canadian politician * Murder of Sophia Lösche, Sophia Lösche, German murder victim * Sophia Lvovna Perovskaya (1853–1881), Russian revolutionary * Sofia Manzano (born 1971), Brazilian politician * Sofia Richie (born 1998), American fashion model, daughter of Lionel Richie * Sophie Scholl (1921–1943), German student and anti-Nazi political activist * Sophia D. Stoddard, American educator * Sofia Tekela-Smith (born 1970), New Zealand artist * Sophia Wilson (1860–1???), Japanese courtesan and wife of Captain John Wilson

Fictional characters

*Princess Sofia, main character from the animated TV show ''Sofia the First'' * Sophie Amundsen, main character from the novel ''Sophie's World'' * Sofia Constantinas, from the comic ''Wonder Woman'' * Sofia Curtis, from the TV series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' * Sofia Johnson, from film ''The Color Purple (film), The Color Purple'' * Sofia Dupre, a character on the American soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' * Sofia Lamb, from the video game ''BioShock 2'' * Sofia Petrovna, a character from the novel of the same name * Sofia Sartor from the video game ''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' * Sofia Serrano from the film ''Vanilla Sky#Plot, Vanilla Sky'' * Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres, daughter of Callie Torres, Mark Sloan, and Arizona Robbins from ''Grey's Anatomy'' * Sophia, playable character from ''Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi'' * Sophia Aubrey, from the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian * Sophia Esteed, from the video game ''Star Ocean: Till the End of Time'' * List of Last Exile characters#Sophia Forrester, Sophia Forrester, from the animated TV series ''Last Exile'' * Sophia Hapgood, from the video game ''Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis'' * Sophia Lopez, from the TV series ''Nip/Tuck'' * Sophia Peletier, from the TV series and comic books ''The Walking Dead (franchise), The Walking Dead'' * Sophia Petrillo, from the TV series ''The Golden Girls'' * Sophia Marlowe, from the TV series ''Girlboss (TV series), Girlboss'' * Sophia Tutu, a character from the animated TV series ''The Raccoons'' * Sophia Western, main heroine of the novel ''The History of Tom Jones'' * Sophie, from the video game ''Tales of Graces'' * Sophie Neveu Saint-Clair, character in Dan Brown's book ''The Da Vinci Code'' * Sophie Zawistowska, the title character of the novel and movie ''Sophie's Choice (novel), Sophie's Choice'' *Sophia, a fictional character from the video game ''Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box'' *Sofia Porter, technician of the MD-5 group and Lucinia's sister in the Meta Runner internet series. *Sophie Norton, from the Nickelodeon series ''Genie in the House'' *Sophie Hatter, from the book and movie ''Howl's Moving Castle'' *Mother Sophia, a key historical figure in ''Xenogears'' *Sophia, a character who fuses demons for the protagonist in ''Shin Megami Tensei V''

References

External links

NamepediA Blog - The Journey of the Name Sophia
{{given name Greek feminine given names Bulgarian feminine given names English feminine given names Spanish feminine given names Italian feminine given names Russian feminine given names Slovak feminine given names Romanian feminine given names Given names of Greek language origin Lists of people by given name