Sophronia
Feminine · “of sound mind”
The Greeks had four cardinal virtues and only one of them is hard to translate. Wisdom, courage and justice come across cleanly; sophrosyne does not — it covers temperance, self-command, knowing your own measure, and the Greeks considered it the hardest of the four. Sophronia is the name built on it, and it was given by nineteenth-century American families who knew exactly what they were doing.
How old is the name Sophronia?
Sophronia was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Sophronia alive today was born around 1922, making them about 103 years old. About 400 people named Sophronia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sophronia most popular?
Sophronia peaked in 1881, reaching #418 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,790 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From sophron to Sophronia
The story of Sophronia
American naming in the nineteenth century reached deep into Greek and Latin for names, and the virtue words came with them — Sophronia alongside Prudence, Temperance and Verity. It was carried by a martyr in the church calendar and appears in Dickens, which kept it visible. The name was already at its peak when American statistics began in 1880 and fell steadily afterward. It belongs to a moment when a classical education was a common ambition and naming a daughter for a Greek virtue seemed a reasonable thing to do.
Meaning
of sound mind; self-controlled
From the Greek sophron, joining sos, safe or sound, to phren, the mind — so sound-minded. The abstract noun sophrosyne is one of the four cardinal virtues of Greek ethics and is usually rendered temperance, though moderation, self-knowledge and good sense are all part of it.
How the name formed
- sophron
- Sophronia
Related forms: Sophronia · Sofronia · Sofroniya
Pronouncing Sophronia
suh-FROH-nee-uh
Four syllables, stress on the second. The ph is a plain f, as it is in every Greek word English has borrowed.
Nicknames for Sophronia
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 191527 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #418reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- +20.0%6 in 2025, from 5
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.
Sophronia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sophronia in Greek — same name
- Sofronia in Italian — same name
- Sofroniya in Russian — same name
Sophronias among us
people named Sophronia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Sophronia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Sophronia 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
Sophronia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sophronia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The virtue behind it is a genuinely interesting one and takes a paragraph rather than a word to explain, which is a good sign.
- Sophie is available and needs no explanation anywhere.
- Four open syllables that sit well after almost any surname.
- It is very rare, so a child will not meet another.
- It belongs unmistakably to the nineteenth century and carries that weight.
- Four syllables is a great deal of name for a small child, though Sophie arrives early.
- Sofronia and Sophronia both appear in records, so the spelling has to be given.
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What they receive
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Sophronia
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sophronias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Sophronia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sophronia in 2025?
- Sophronia ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sophronia?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Sophronia — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sophronia with classmates?
- Sophronia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sophronia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sophronia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sophronia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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