Sophia

The name Sophia means “wisdom” or “wise” in ancient Greek. It can also be translated as “rationality” or “science”.

The name Sofya came to the ancient Rus with the adoption of Orthodox Christianity. At first, it was used only in aristocratic circles. The only daughter of the second Prince of Moscow Yuriy Danilovich was named Sofya, just like the wife Sophia of Vasily I, the Grand Prince of Moscow and Vladimir, and the wife of Ivan the Great, Sophia Palaiologina. In the years that followed princess Sophia Alekseyevna and two empresses of the late XVIII century, who received different names at the christening, had this name. One of the latter was Catherine the Great.

The name Sophia was mostly used in noble families. In the XVIII–XIX centuries this name was the fifth in the chart of the most popular names of ladies-in-waiting at the aristocratic court after the names Ekaterina, Anna, Maria, and Elizaveta. By the end of the XIX century it had become the 20th popular name and was used not only by the noblemen, but also among other social classes. In Soviet times this name was among the least popular ones, and it came into common use only at the beginning of the 21st century. In 2011 it became the most popular name in Moscow and still remains in the list of the top ten female names.

The name Sophia became the second popular in Great Britain in 2010 and the first in Ireland in 2010.

In Christianity Sophia is considered to be the mother of three daughters: Faith, Hope, and Love, whose names stand for the three main virtues of a Christian. Faith, Hope, Love, and their mother Sophia are holy martyrs executed in Rome in the II century A.D. In Orthodoxy their names were translated literally, and the name of their mother was borrowed from Greek.

The hypocoristic Sonya became a name in its own.

You should not confuse the European name Sophia (Sofia, Sophie) with the Muslim name Safiyyah that can be also pronounced as Safiyat or Sapiyat.

From the early age, Sophia shows herself as an active and sensitive girl. She finds great pleasure in communication with other people. She has a rich inner world. At the same time, it is not always easy for Sophia to absorb new knowledge. Her parents love her a lot. She is very active. The girl with this name easily solves any problems. With age Sophia becomes more attractive, so the opposite sex starts to notice her.

Sophia tries to find the time for everything in her life. She always wants to be focus of attention. Among her friends she is outspoken, she enjoys heart-to-heart conversations, she can listen carefully and give advice, if necessary. Still, sometimes this girl can be passive and even weak-willed. In her life Sophia repeatedly needs to adapt to other people and change as a result of that.

Sophia always knows what she wants to achieve and tries to turn her plans into reality. It will all work out well thanks to her luck. Sophia has to learn to trust other people. She can be deeply sympathetic.

As for relationships with friends, it is really important for Sophia that people hear her out. She is always ready to help, too, and to settle any disputes. If necessary, she can give a sharp response knowing that she would hurt a person with her words. Sophia enjoys communicating with other people and discussing their problems. Thanks to these features, people are always drawn to her. She easily finds someone to talk to even among people she doesn’t know well. This girl rarely follows other people’s advice. She acts according to her own intuition and logic. This girl is smart and can do everything on her own.

Sophia’s moral qualities encourage her to commit heroic actions. With years, she starts to notice people’s weaknesses. At the same time, she shows confidence and grit. She can feel upset about her mistakes for a long time, but she easily solves other people’s problems. Also, she tries to avoid conflicts.

In her personal life this girl is very temperamental. Sophia is always expecting total commitment from her man. She wants to hear declarations of his love as often as possible. To be happy, Sophia needs an opportunity to show her feminine side in every sense of the word. She needs to feel love in her personal life. When Sophia gets married, she spends a lot of time keeping the house. Her innate diligence definitely helps her with that. It is not uncommon for Sophia to show determination that really helps her in life. She doesn’t enjoy being the leader of the family, although she is suitable for that position. Her man feels something special in his chosen one. Her husband and children always come first.

Sophia likes inviting guests. She is a great cook, and people enjoy her culinary masterpieces.

A girl with this name is rather sociable. This helps her to fulfil her potential at work. A profession involving regular business trips will be perfect for Sophia. She can become a brilliant journalist. Her colleagues value her good conscience. Sophia moves up the career ladder quite quickly. She never relies on anyone’s help and tries to achieve everything on her own.

Famous people named Sophia

• Sophia Loren (born in 1934, the real name is Sofia Villani Scicolone) – an Italian actress and singer. Winner of many world film festivals. She became the "favorite of the world public" of the Golden Globe. She became the first to receive an Oscar for Best Actress in a film in a foreign language (1961).
• SOPHIA, the real name is Sophia Aslandis – a Japanese singer, member of the band “Blood Stain Child”. Also translator and model.
• Sophia Lillis (born in 2002) – an American actress.
• Sophia Webster (born in 1985) – an English shoe and accessories designer who launched her line of shoes of the same name in September 2012. In 2013 she was awarded the British Fashion Prize for the design of new accessories.
• Sophia Bush (born in 1982) – an American actress and activist.
• Sophia Hadjipanteli – a Greek-Cypriot model.
• Sophia Flörsch (born in 2000) – a German racer, participant of the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
• Sofia Coppola (born in 1971) – an American actress, also writes scripts, makes and produces films.
• Sophia McDougall (born in 1979) – an English writer, playwright, and poet. She wrote a trilogy (an alterentive story), where the Roman Empire survived to our times.
• Sophia Amoruso (born in 1984) – an American business woman. In 2014 she created “Girlboss Media”, a company that creates content targeted at a female audience.
• Sophia Grace Brownlee (born in 2003) – an American singer, member of the popular duet "Sophia Grace & Rosie".
• Sofia Boutella (born in 1982) – an Algerian dancer, face of the Nike company.
• Sophie Solomon (born in 1978) – a British violinist, composer and vocalist.
• Sophie Ferguson (born in 1986) – an Australian tennis player, winner of 9 ITF tournaments.
• Sophie Marceau (born in 1966, the real name is Sophie Daniele Sylvie Maupu) – a French film actress.

More woman names ☞