Given name
Sofya
“wisdom”
In English use, Sofya has an alternative spelling in Sophia. Sophia means “wisdom” in Greek.
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Sofya has an alternative spelling in Sophia. Sophia means “wisdom” in Greek.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In English use, Sofya has an alternative spelling in Sophia. Sophia has Greek linguistic roots and later spread into several European naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English use, Sofya has an alternative spelling in Sophia. The shared background comes through Sophia: Sophia uses the Greek noun sophia. That word also appears in the phrase Hagia Sophia, meaning “holy wisdom.”
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2001. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Sofya has an alternative spelling in Sophia. The history of Sophia gives this family its wider story. Sophia became popular in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Sophia also has literary and screen associations, including the heroine of Tom Jones and the actress Sophia Loren.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Sofya through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 287
- 0 boys · 287 girls
- Most popular year
- 2011
- 23 babies
- 2025
- 12
- #8,801 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +59%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 12 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 8,801 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 59.5% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 23 in 2011. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,417 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sofya’s family of names
Sofya has an affectionate form in Sonya. In English usage, Sofya has an alternative spelling in Sophia. In Turkish usage, Sofya has a conventional equivalent in the Russian form София.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Sofya has relatives in 3 languages.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Sofya
- Sofya Kovalevskaya19th-century Russian mathematician1850–1891
- Sophia Alekseyevna of RussiaRussian tsarevna (1657–1704)
- Sofya VelikayaRussian fencerborn 1985
- Sofia SapegaRussian studentborn 1998
- Sofya BerultsevaKazakhstani karatekaborn 2000
- Sofia SamodelkinaRussian figure skaterborn 2007
- Sofya SkyaRussian ballet dancer and actorborn 1987
- Sofya Georgiyevna TamamshyanSoviet botanist (1900-1981)
- Sonya Golden HandRussian legendary thief (1846–1902)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Sofya, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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