Sophia
- Pronunciation
- [So-phi-a]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Wisdom
- Origin
- Greek
Meaning and history of Sophia
Sophia comes from the Greek word for wisdom. “Wisdom” is the noun used in the documented translation; “wise” is an associated description. Sofia and Sophie are related forms, while usage statistics record each exact spelling separately.
Name-history references: Sophia. Reviewed October 27, 2026.
By Marvin Tang. Popularity figures use an imported selection of SSA records; SSA does not supply name meanings or etymologies. Editorial references, where available, are listed with the name explanation. Sources and coverage.
Quick Facts About Sophia
US Popularity History (1997–2025)
Annual imported US counts for Sophia by recorded sex, from US Social Security Administration records. Highest count in the imported records: 2012 with 22,335 girls named Sophia (girl rank #1 that year).
Latest imported observation: in 2025, ranked #5 for girls (12,561 imported records). That's 4 places below its 2012 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Coverage: imported US Social Security card-application records, not a complete birth census. Historical coverage is narrower, including top-100 selection before 2000; recent imports also use catalog and rank filters. Missing rows can reflect those filters or source privacy limits and must not be read as zero or fewer than five uses. Spellings and recorded sex are kept separate.
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Look up Sophia across states
Compare this exact spelling in one year and recorded sex list. Missing state records remain unknown.
Observed State Ranks for Sophia
Average girl-name rank across the same 2016–2025 window, limited to 51 jurisdictions with every year imported. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings. This is an ordinal comparison, not a per-capita rate. States with missing years are excluded. For Sophia the lowest observed averages are in New Mexico, New York, Illinois.
Lowest observed average rank
| # | State | Avg rank | Imported count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | #3 | 839 |
| 2 | New York | #3 | 8,831 |
| 3 | Illinois | #4 | 5,315 |
| 4 | Arizona | #4 | 3,422 |
| 5 | New Jersey | #4 | 4,308 |
| 6 | Nevada | #4 | 1,361 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | #4 | 3,066 |
| 8 | California | #4 | 19,961 |
| 9 | Florida | #4 | 9,854 |
| 10 | Maryland | #4 | 2,272 |
Highest observed average rank
| # | State | Avg rank | Imported count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | #36 | 483 |
| 2 | Montana | #17 | 258 |
| 3 | North Dakota | #17 | 276 |
| 4 | Alabama | #16 | 1,162 |
| 5 | South Dakota | #15 | 284 |
| 6 | Vermont | #15 | 180 |
| 7 | Utah | #14 | 1,187 |
| 8 | Alaska | #11 | 275 |
| 9 | Wyoming | #10 | 156 |
| 10 | Maine | #10 | 397 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. Only states with all 10 annual observations for this spelling and recorded sex are compared. Missing states are excluded, not assigned zero. Average rank measures position in state rankings, not a per-capita rate. Local import filters and SSA privacy limits can both create gaps. Coverage and limitations.
Related Forms in This Catalog
Open each form for its own meaning, language history, and exact-spelling usage records.
Looking for names like Sophia?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Sophia to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Sophia against names with the largest imported counts for girls-name peers (top 8 with every year imported, 2016–2025). Names with missing annual observations are excluded from this comparison.
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