Sopha
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "wisdom" or "skilled".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Sopha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sopha today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sopha births was 1893 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sopha. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sopha. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1893
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1917 SSA rank
#5,230
Tracked since 1893
Census
Sopha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 401 people with the first name Sopha, which placed it at #24,134 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,134
National first-name rank
People counted
401
401 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
69.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sopha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sopha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 69.3%. The next largest groups are White (15.2%) and Hispanic (9.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sopha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sopha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander69.3% · 278
- White15.2% · 61
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 38
- Two or more races3.7% · 15
- Black or African American2.2% · 9
Popularity
Sopha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sopha from the 1890s through to the 1910s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sopha 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 Sopha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sopha
The name Sopha is believed to have originated from the ancient Greek language, derived from the word "sophia," which means "wisdom" or "knowledge." This name can be traced back to the Classical period of Greek history, which spanned from the 5th to the 4th century BC.
In ancient Greek mythology, Sophia was the personification of wisdom and was often associated with the goddess Athena, who was revered for her wisdom and strategic thinking. The name Sopha was likely a variation of this word, used as a personal name to symbolize the qualities of wisdom and intelligence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sopha can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who lived from 428 to 348 BC. In his dialogues, Plato mentions a character named Sopha, though it is unclear whether this was a real person or a fictional character used for philosophical discourse.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sopha. One prominent figure was Sopha of Constantinople, a Byzantine scholar and philosopher who lived in the 11th century AD. She was renowned for her knowledge of ancient Greek philosophy and her contributions to the intellectual circles of the Byzantine Empire.
Another historical figure with the name Sopha was Sopha Tolstaya, a Russian noblewoman and writer who lived from 1844 to 1919. She was a member of the renowned Tolstoy family and was known for her literary works, which often explored themes of love, family, and social issues.
In the realm of religion, Sopha Komnene was a 12th-century Byzantine princess and abbess who played a significant role in the Eastern Orthodox Church. She was renowned for her piety, wisdom, and dedication to religious life.
Sopha Engelhardt, a German philosopher and educator who lived from 1805 to 1864, was another notable figure with this name. She was a proponent of women's education and authored several works on philosophy and pedagogy.
Sopha Vatsadze, a Georgian writer and feminist activist who lived from 1892 to 1978, was a prominent figure in the early 20th century. She was known for her literary works that explored themes of gender equality and social justice.
While the name Sopha may not be as common today as it once was, its roots in ancient Greek culture and its association with wisdom and knowledge have contributed to its enduring legacy throughout history.
People
Sopha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sopha 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
Sopha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sopha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sopha 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 - US residents.
Is Sopha a common name?
We classify Sopha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sopha most popular?
The single biggest year for Sopha was 1893, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sopha is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sopha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 401 people with the name Sopha, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,134 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sopha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sopha?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sopha on both sides of the split. Of the 402 people counted with this name, 87 were male (21.6%) and 315 were female (78.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sopha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sopha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 69.3%. The next largest groups are White (15.2%) and Hispanic (9.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sopha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sopha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.3% (278 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sopha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sopha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sopha 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.
Is Sopha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sopha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sopha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Sopha?
See how many Americans are named Sopha on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.