Sophia (given name)

For other uses, see Sophia (disambiguation) and Sofia (disambiguation).
For the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Serbian name, see Sofija (given name).
Sophia
Genderfeminine
Origin
Word/nameGreek
Derivationfrom Greek Σοφία, Sophía
MeaningWisdom[1]
Region of originByzantine Empire
Other names
Alternative spellingSofia
Variant form(s)Sophie, Sophy
Related namesSofija, Sofiya, Sofya, Sophus
See alsoSonia
A statue of Sophia, the personification of wisdom, in the Celsus Library in Ephesus, Turkey.
A depiction of Saint Sophia and Her Three Daughters, Faith, Hope and Charity (icon of the Novgorod school, 16th century).
Sophia Loren in 1955

Sophia, also spelled Sofia, is a feminine given name, from Greek Σοφία, Sophía, "Wisdom". Other forms include Sophie, Sophy, and Sofie. The given name is first recorded in the beginning of the 4th century.[2] 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.

  1. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com.
  2. ^ V. Saxer, "Sophia v. Rom" in: Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche vol. 9 (1993), 733f., citing H.-L. Marrou, Dame Sagesse et ses trois filles: Mél. Ch. Mohrmann (1963), 177–183.