Sophya
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "wisdom, skilled".
Name Census estimates that about 614 living Americans carry the first name Sophya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sophya today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sophya births was 2011 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sophya. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sophya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
614
~ 1 in 558,232 Americans
Peak year
2011
65 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,882
Tracked since 2001
Census
Sophya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 542 people with the first name Sophya, which placed it at #19,479 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
#19,479
National first-name rank
People counted
542
542 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
47.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sophya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sophya is Hispanic at 47.8%. The next largest groups are White (34.7%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Sophya 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 Sophya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino47.8% · 259
- White34.7% · 188
- Two or more races6.1% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 32
- Black or African American4.6% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Sophya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sophya from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 389 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sophya 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 Sophya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sophyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Sophya, while Florida, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sophya
The name Sophya has its origins in the Greek language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is a feminine form of the Greek name Sophia, which is derived from the word "sophia," meaning "wisdom" or "knowledge."
In Greek mythology, Sophia was one of the daughters of the Titans Thaumas and Electra, representing the personification of wisdom. The name was popular among the ancient Greeks, who valued education and philosophy.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Sophya can be found in the works of ancient Greek writers and philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, who often referred to the concept of wisdom using the term "Sophia."
The name Sophya also has a connection to the Christian faith. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Hagia Sophia, a renowned church in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom of God. The church was built in the 6th century and served as an important religious and architectural landmark.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sophya. One of the earliest examples is Saint Sophya of Constantinople (d. 630 CE), a Christian martyr and saint who lived during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius.
Another prominent figure with the name Sophya was Sophya Alekseyevna (1657-1704), a Russian regent and the second wife of Tsar Fyodor III. She played a significant role in the transition of power between the Romanov and Naryshkin branches of the Russian royal family.
In the 19th century, Sophya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (1850-1891) was a renowned Russian mathematician and writer. She made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and was the first woman to hold a professorship in Europe.
Moving to the 20th century, Sophya Mikhailovna Tolstaya (1900-1957) was a famous Russian writer and memoirist, known for her works depicting life in pre-revolutionary Russia. She was the daughter of the renowned writer Leo Tolstoy.
Another notable figure with the name Sophya was Sophya Vassilievna Pichuzhkina (1901-1992), a Soviet athlete and gymnast who won multiple Olympic gold medals in the 1920s and 1930s, contributing to the success of the Soviet Union in international sports competitions.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Sophya, a name that carries a rich cultural and linguistic heritage, symbolizing wisdom and knowledge across various civilizations and time periods.
People
Sophya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sophya 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
Sophya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sophya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 614 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sophya 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 558,232 US residents.
Is Sophya a common name?
We classify Sophya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 620 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sophya most popular?
The single biggest year for Sophya was 2011, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sophya is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sophya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 542 people with the name Sophya, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,479 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 Sophya 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 Sophya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sophya appears almost entirely female. Of the 538 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Sophya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sophya is Hispanic at 47.8%. The next largest groups are White (34.7%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Sophya most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sophya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.8% (259 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 Sophya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sophya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sophya 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 Sophya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sophya 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 Sophya 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 people share the name Sophya?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.