Sofia
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Sophia. Ultimately of Ancient Greek origin. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1380 as Sophia.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Sofia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Sofia has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 542 |
| 1999 | 489 |
| 2000 | 463 |
| 2001 | 473 |
| 2002 | 402 |
| 2003 | 425 |
| 2004 | 355 |
| 2005 | 345 |
| 2006 | 336 |
| 2007 | 321 |
| 2008 | 240 |
| 2009 | 290 |
| 2010 | 239 |
| 2011 | 249 |
| 2012 | 285 |
| 2013 | 260 |
| 2014 | 258 |
| 2015 | 251 |
| 2016 | 254 |
| 2017 | 229 |
| 2018 | 214 |
| 2019 | 228 |
| 2020 | 198 |
| 2021 | 198 |
| 2022 | 181 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 24,222 |
| 2000 | 24,808 |
| 2001 | 25,419 |
| 2002 | 25,893 |
| 2003 | 26,388 |
| 2004 | 26,819 |
| 2005 | 27,152 |
| 2006 | 27,514 |
| 2007 | 27,785 |
| 2008 | 28,024 |
| 2009 | 28,295 |
| 2010 | 28,523 |
| 2011 | 28,762 |
| 2012 | 29,106 |
| 2013 | 29,388 |
| 2014 | 29,634 |
| 2015 | 29,905 |
| 2016 | 30,226 |
| 2017 | 30,479 |
| 2018 | 30,732 |
| 2019 | 30,998 |
| 2020 | 31,234 |
Sofia in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Sofia.Hi! My name is Sofia.
- Sofia ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Sofia called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Sofia har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Sofia has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Sofias mamma är lärare.Sofia's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Sofias mamma is Sofia's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Sofia
How do you pronounce Sofia in Swedish?
In IPA, Sofia is /sʊ²fiːa/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Sofia mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Sophia. Ultimately of Ancient Greek origin. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1380 as Sophia.
How popular is Sofia in Sweden?
181 babies were named Sofia in 2022. In 2020, 31,234 people in Sweden had Sofia as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.