Zophia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "wisdom".
Name Census estimates that about 663 living Americans carry the first name Zophia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zophia today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zophia births was 2013 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zophia. 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
663
~ 1 in 516,975 Americans
Peak year
2013
48 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,871
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Zophia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zophia 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 400 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zophia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zophia 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 Zophia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zophias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Zophia, while Florida, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zophia
The name Zophia has its origins in the ancient Greek language, where it is believed to have derived from the word "sophia," meaning "wisdom" or "knowledge." This name first emerged during the classical period of ancient Greece, around the 5th century BC.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zophia can be found in the works of the Greek philosopher Plato, who mentioned a woman by this name in his dialogues. It is believed that Plato may have used this name to symbolize the pursuit of wisdom and intellectual enlightenment.
Throughout the Byzantine era, the name Zophia gained popularity among Greek Christian communities, as it was associated with the virtues of wisdom and spiritual knowledge. Several notable figures from this period bore the name, including Zophia of Constantinople, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 9th century AD.
In the Middle Ages, the name Zophia spread to various parts of Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and the Eastern Orthodox Church. One notable figure was Zophia Palaiologina, a Byzantine princess who married Ivan III, the Grand Prince of Moscow, in the 15th century. This marriage helped strengthen the cultural ties between the Byzantine Empire and Russia.
During the Renaissance period, the name Zophia became associated with the revival of classical learning and the pursuit of knowledge. In Italy, Zophia Bettini (1518-1598) was a celebrated scholar and poet who contributed to the intellectual and artistic movements of the time.
As the name Zophia traveled across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Sophia, Sofia, and Zofia. In Poland, the name Zofia gained particular prominence, and several notable figures bore this variation, including Queen Zofia Holszańska (1405-1461), wife of Władysław II Jagiełło, and the 19th-century writer Zofia Nałkowska (1884-1954).
Other historical figures who carried the name Zophia or its variants include Zophia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891), a Russian mathematician and writer who made significant contributions to the field of partial differential equations, and Zophia Tolstaya (1844-1919), the daughter of the renowned Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.
People
Zophia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zophia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zophia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zophia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 663 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zophia 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 516,975 US residents.
Is Zophia a common name?
We classify Zophia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 669 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zophia most popular?
The single biggest year for Zophia was 2013, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zophia is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Zophia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zophia 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.