Sofi
Feminine · “wisdom”
Sofi is a clipped Sofia, and it is a real short form rather than an American invention: Scandinavian, Spanish-speaking and Eastern European families have used it that way for a long time. It began appearing on American birth certificates in numbers in the 2000s, in the same decade that Sofia and Sophia took over the top of the list, and it peaked in 2012.
How old is the name Sofi?
Sofi first appears in US birth records in 1992 — 33 years ago. The typical Sofi is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Sofi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sofi most popular?
Sofi peaked in 2012, reaching #3314 nationally. Today it ranks #5722, 2,408 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From sophia to Sofi
The story of Sofi
Sophia entered Christian naming through the cult of Holy Wisdom in the Eastern church, and it became a standard name in Greece, the Slavic world and Scandinavia long before it was common in England. It reached English royalty with the Electress Sophia of Hanover, whose descendants took the British throne, and English use dates from that period. The short form is older than its American life: Swedish and Danish families have said Sofi for generations, and Spanish speakers say Sofi as the everyday form of Sofia. What is new is writing it on a birth certificate, and that is an American development of the last twenty-five years, following the same logic that produced Ella, Mia and Ava.
Meaning
wisdom
Greek sophia is the ordinary word for wisdom and skill, the same element in philosophy, 'love of wisdom'. It was personified in Greek and then in Christian thought as Holy Wisdom, which is what the great church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was dedicated to — not to a woman named Sophia. The personal name follows from that dedication and from an early Christian martyr tradition. Nothing about the derivation is contested.
How the name formed
- sophia
- Sophia
- Sofia
- Sofi
Related forms: Sophia · Sofia · Sofi · Sofya · Sophie
Pronouncing Sofi
SOH-fee
Two syllables, stress on the first. A second saying, soh-FEE with the stress at the back, is used in Spanish-speaking families and is equally standard. Both are heard in American English and the spelling does not settle it.
Nicknames for Sofi
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1992
- Most girls named
- 201249 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3314reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- −41.7%21 in 2025, from 36
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Sofi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sophia in Greek — related form
- Sofia in Spanish — related form
- Sofi in Swedish — same name
- Sofya in Russian — related form
- Sophie in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Sofis among us
people named Sofi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was named Sofi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Sofi
- #5722
- Sofi on the 2025 chart
- #917
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Sofi went to 21 girls in 2025, but Sophi, Sofy and Sophy are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 43, which makes it the 917th most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,805 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 37,378 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 76,537 for Sofi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Karman test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sofi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Karman climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Karman's path sketches the road Sofi is walking now.
Sofi sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Sofi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sofi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It gives the sound of a top-five name in a form that is much rarer on paper.
- The meaning is a single word and universally understood.
- It works as a full name or as the everyday form of Sofia, so the choice can be deferred.
- Sofi, Sofie, Sophie and Sofia are all in use and will be swapped for one another constantly.
- Two stress patterns circulate, one English and one Spanish.
- As a short form on a birth certificate it leaves no longer version to fall back on.
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What they receive
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Sofi
Feminine · #5722 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sofis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Sofi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Sofi?
- Sofi is the most-used spelling in US records — 21 of the 43 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Sophi, Sofy and Sophy.
- How popular is the name Sofi in 2025?
- Sofi ranks #5722 among US girl names in 2025, with 21 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sofi?
- About 1 in every 76,537 US girls born in 2025 was named Sofi — 21 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sofi with classmates?
- Sofi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sofi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rosina#5722 · Delores#5722 · Vaughn#5722 · Roseline#5722 · Loyal#5722 · Missy#5722 · Danitza#5722 · Margret#5722
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sofi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sofi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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