Sophie
Feminine · Greek roots · “Wisdom”
Sophie is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 138,577 girls against 117 boys since 1880.
Sophie is the French form of Greek Sophia, "wisdom" — the word carved over Byzantine church doors and argued about by philosophers before it was ever a child's name. Two syllables, the second falling away softly, so it works spoken quietly across a room or called across a yard. It has been at home in French, German, Dutch and English at the same time for centuries, which is why it sounds borrowed from nowhere in particular.
How old is the name Sophie?
Sophie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Sophie alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 99,000 people named Sophie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sophie most popular?
Sophie peaked in 2011, reaching #51 nationally. Today it ranks #55, 4 places below that high. See the whole 2011 chart.
Where it comes from
From Sophia (Greek) to Sophie
The story of Sophie
The root is the ordinary Greek noun sophia, wisdom, which early Greek Christians used as a personal name and also as a title for divine Wisdom itself; the great church of Constantinople, Hagia Sophia, was dedicated to Holy Wisdom rather than to a woman. From Greek it passed into Latin as Sophia and spread west, becoming Sophie in French and German. English speakers borrowed both spellings, and Sophie arrived with the French form still attached to it. It has been continuously in use in Britain, France, Germany and North America ever since, which is unusual — most imported names go quiet for a century somewhere along the way.
Meaning
Wisdom
From Greek sophia, wisdom — the same word behind philosophy, "love of wisdom."
Cultural footprint
Sophie Turner (b. 1996) — Game of Thrones' Sansa Stark
Sophie Germain (b. 1776) — Self-taught mathematician who broke into a men-only field
Sophie Marceau (b. 1966) — France's beloved screen star and Bond girl
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- SophiaGreek
- SophiaLatin
- SophieFrench, German
- SophieEnglish
Related forms: Σοφία (Sophia) · Sofía · Sofia · Zofia · Zsófia · Sofya
Pronouncing Sophie
SOH-fee
In English the stress sits on the first syllable. French speakers place it on the second, closer to so-FEE, and German speakers say something like ZOH-fee-uh for Sophie's German reading.
Nicknames for Sophie
High
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 20104,416 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #51reached in 2011
- Change vs 2022
- +13.1%3,984 in 2025, from 3,524
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.
Sophie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Σοφία (Sophia) in Greek — same name
- Sofía in Spanish — same name
- Sofia in Italian — same name
- Zofia in Polish — related form
- Zsófia in Hungarian — related form
- Sofya in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Sophies among us
people named Sophie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 403 born in 2025 was named Sophie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jo test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sophie's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jo climbed just as high around 1947, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jo's path sketches the road Sophie is walking now.
Sophie is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Sophie is headed
Sophie should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Sophie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sophie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Understood on sight across the English-speaking world, and currently charting in Scotland, Canada and England & Wales as well as the US.
- The meaning is transparent and easy to explain — wisdom, the same root as philosophy — with no scholarly dispute behind it.
- Sister forms exist in nearly every European language, so relatives abroad will have a version they can pronounce.
- Two syllables, ending in a vowel sound, which pairs cleanly with most one- and three-syllable surnames.
- Sophie, Sophia and Sofia sound alike and are constantly confused. Expect to spell it often, and to hear the other two used by mistake.
- Counting those cousin spellings together, the sound is far more common in classrooms than Sophie alone suggests — she may be the only Sophie but not the only So-fee.
- The short-form pool is thin: essentially Soph, and little else in English use.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Sophie to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Sophie
Feminine · Greek roots · #55 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sophies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 99,000 people named Sophie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sophie in 2025?
- Sophie ranks #55 among US girl names in 2025, with 3,984 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Sophie?
- About 1 in every 403 US girls born in 2025 was named Sophie — 3,984 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sophie with classmates?
- Sophie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sophie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Victoria#54 · Hannah#56 · Lillian#57 · Josephine#53 · Leah#58 · Stella#52 · Delilah#51 · Adeline#59
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sophie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sophie and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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