Sofi
A Greek feminine name meaning "wisdom, skilled".
Name Census estimates that about 677 living Americans carry the first name Sofi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sofi today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sofi births was 2012 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sofi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
677
~ 1 in 506,284 Americans
Peak year
2012
49 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,094
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Sofi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sofi from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 331 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sofi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sofi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sofi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sofis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Sofi, while Illinois, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sofi
The name Sofi is derived from the Greek name Sophia, which means "wisdom" or "skill." The name has its roots in ancient Greek culture, dating back to the 5th century BCE.
Sofi was a popular name among the ancient Greeks, particularly in Athens, where it was associated with the goddess of wisdom, Athena. The name was often given to girls with the hope that they would grow up to be wise and intelligent.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sofi can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who mentioned a woman named Sofi in his dialogues. Another early reference to the name can be found in the writings of the historian Herodotus, who wrote about a woman named Sofi who lived in the 5th century BCE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women named Sofi. One of the most famous was Sofi Tolstaya, a Russian noblewoman and writer who lived from 1844 to 1919. She was the wife of the famous novelist Leo Tolstoy and was known for her philanthropic work and her support of women's rights.
Another notable Sofi was Sofi Kovalevskaya, a Russian mathematician and writer who lived from 1850 to 1891. She was the first woman to become a professor of mathematics in modern Europe and made significant contributions to the field of partial differential equations.
In the world of art, Sofi Treadwell was a British painter and sculptor who lived from 1890 to 1979. She was known for her portraits and was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Sofi Loren, the famous Italian actress, was born in 1934 and is still alive today. She is known for her roles in films such as "Two Women" and "Marriage Italian Style," and is considered a cultural icon in Italy.
Finally, Sofi Oksanen is a Finnish-Estonian novelist who was born in 1977. She is known for her novels that explore themes of identity, power, and violence, and has won several prestigious literary awards.
People
Sofi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sofi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sofi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sofi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 677 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sofi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 506,284 US residents.
Is Sofi a common name?
We classify Sofi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 684 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sofi most popular?
The single biggest year for Sofi was 2012, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sofi is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sofi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sofi in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.