Sofia
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsoʊfiə/, /ˈsoʊfijə/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsəʊfi.ə/, /sɒˈfiːə/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -əʊfiə
Etymology 1
Variant spelling of Sophia and from various other languages' own adaptions of Ancient Greek Σοφία (Sophía, “wisdom, especially divine wisdom”). Sometimes borrowed into English as an anglicization of an accented or closely related form, as with Spanish Sofía, Welsh Soffia, and Hungarian Zsófia.
As the capital of Bulgaria, via nonstandard romanization of Bulgarian Со́фия (Sófiya), from църква „Света София“ (cǎrkva "Sveta Sofija"), from Byzantine Greek Ναός Ἁγίας Σοφίας (Naós Hagías Sophías, “Church of Holy Wisdom”), the city's prominent 6th-century Byzantine Greek church, first attested being used as the name for the city in the 14th century and reinforced under Ottoman rule as Ottoman Turkish صوفیه (Sofya).
Proper noun
Sofia
- Alternative spelling of Sophia, a female given name.
- The capital city of Bulgaria.
Alternative forms
- (Bulgarian capital): Sofya (historical)
Synonyms
- (Bulgarian capital): Serdica, Serdonpolis, Triaditza, Sredets (historical)
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Malagasy Sofia of uncertain origin. The region is named for the river.
Proper noun
Sofia
- A river in northwestern Madagascar
- A region of Madagascar around the river.
References
- James Sibree Jr., "Malagasy Place-Names", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, New Ser., Vol. XV, No. 3 (July 1883), p. 193.
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Proper noun
Sofia
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Derived terms
Catalan
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia f
- a female given name, equivalent to English Sophia
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Danish
Proper noun
Sofia
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
- a female given name, variant of Sofie, equivalent to English Sophia
Estonian
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Finnish
Etymology
Ultimately from Ancient Greek σοφία (sophía). The sense "Sofia (Bulgaria)" is through Bulgarian Со́фия (Sófija).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
- a female given name, equivalent to English Sophia
- 1959, Väinö Linna, Täällä Pohjantähden alla 1, WSOY, published 1965, page 181:
- Kehdossa makasi juuri äskettäin pappilassa kasteella ollut tyttö, jonka nimenkin rouva muisti: Elma. Se oli hänen antamansa nimi. Vanhemmat olivat tahtoneet Sofiaa, mutta rouva oli saanut kuin saanutkin tytölle suomalaisperäisen nimen. Tosin vain siksi ettei Anttoo pitänyt asiaa millään tavoin tärkeänä.
- There was a girl just christened still lying out in the cradle, and the old lady hadn't forgotten her name: Elma, the name she had picked. The parents would've liked a Sofia, but in the end a Finnish name was picked, although just because Anttoo didn't think the matter was of any importance.
- 1990, Riitta Vartti, Sun lapsuutes, Gummerus, →ISBN, page 407:
- —Äiti, minkäs takia mummun nimi on Adalmina ja Sohvi-tätin nimi on Sofia, vaikkei ne oo mitää ruotsinkielisiä?
—No, ohan meiän vanha sukunimiki S-t-rantperk, vaikkei sitä osaa kukaa ees lausuu oikei. Ennen vanhaa ihmisille pantii sellasia nimiä. Meiän setähä se suomens nimesä ja se on Rantakallio nytte.- —Mom, why is grandma named Adalmina and auntie Sohvi named Sofia, even though they don't speak Swedish?
—Well, our old surname's S-t-rantperk too, but nobody can even pronounce that right. People used to give names like that back then. Our uncle got his translated into Finnish and is now a Rantakallio.
- —Mom, why is grandma named Adalmina and auntie Sohvi named Sofia, even though they don't speak Swedish?
Declension
Inflection of Sofia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | Sofia | Sofiat | |
genitive | Sofian | Sofioiden Sofioitten | |
partitive | Sofiaa | Sofioita | |
illative | Sofiaan | Sofioihin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | Sofia | Sofiat | |
accusative | nom. | Sofia | Sofiat |
gen. | Sofian | ||
genitive | Sofian | Sofioiden Sofioitten Sofiain rare | |
partitive | Sofiaa | Sofioita | |
inessive | Sofiassa | Sofioissa | |
elative | Sofiasta | Sofioista | |
illative | Sofiaan | Sofioihin | |
adessive | Sofialla | Sofioilla | |
ablative | Sofialta | Sofioilta | |
allative | Sofialle | Sofioille | |
essive | Sofiana | Sofioina | |
translative | Sofiaksi | Sofioiksi | |
abessive | Sofiatta | Sofioitta | |
instructive | — | Sofioin | |
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Related terms
Statistics
- Sofia is the 57th most common female given name in Finland, belonging to 11,893 female individuals (and as a middle name to 51,221 more, making it more common as a middle name), and also belongs to 6 male individuals (and as a middle name to 12 more, making it more common as a middle name), according to February 2023 data from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of Finland.
French
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia f
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
German
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Etymology 1
Proper noun
Sofia f (proper noun, genitive Sofias or Sofia, plural Sofias)
- a female given name, a less common variant of Sophia
Declension
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Bulgarian Со́фия (Sófija).
Proper noun
Sofia n (proper noun, genitive Sofias or (optionally with an article) Sofia)
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Declension
Italian
Etymology 1
See Sophia.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia f
- a female given name, equivalent to English Sophia
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Bulgarian София (Sofija, “Sophie, Sophia”), named after the Church of St. Sofia.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia f
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Anagrams
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
From Bulgarian София (Sofija), renamed after the Church of St. Sofia in 1376.
Proper noun
Sofia
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Etymology 2
Proper noun
Sofia
- a female given name, variant of Sofie, equivalent to English Sophia
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
From Bulgarian София (Sofija), renamed after the Church of St. Sofia in 1376.
Proper noun
Sofia
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Etymology 2
Proper noun
Sofia
- a female given name, variant of Sofie, equivalent to English Sophia
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from Bulgarian Со́фия (Sófija).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia f
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
- Sofia in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: So‧fi‧a
Proper noun
Sofia f (plural Sofias)
- a female given name, equivalent to English Sophia
Slovak
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia f (genitive singular Sofie, declension pattern of ulica)
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
References
- “Sofia”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024
Swedish
Etymology
Ultimately of Ancient Greek origin. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1380 as Sophia.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Sofia c (genitive Sofias)
- Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria)
- a female given name, equivalent to English Sophia
Related terms
References
- Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
- [1] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 88 488 females with the given name Sofia living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with frequency peaks in the 19th century and in the 1990s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.
- English 2-syllable words
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/əʊfiə
- Rhymes:English/əʊfiə/3 syllables
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms borrowed from Bulgarian
- English terms derived from Bulgarian
- English terms derived from Byzantine Greek
- English terms derived from Ottoman Turkish
- English lemmas
- English proper nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English given names
- English female given names
- en:Sofia
- en:Cities in Bulgaria
- en:National capitals
- en:Places in Bulgaria
- English terms borrowed from Malagasy
- English terms derived from Malagasy
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- en:Rivers in Madagascar
- en:Places in Madagascar
- en:Regions of Madagascar
- Afrikaans lemmas
- Afrikaans proper nouns
- af:Sofia
- af:Cities in Bulgaria
- af:National capitals
- af:Places in Bulgaria
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan proper nouns
- Catalan feminine nouns
- Catalan given names
- Catalan female given names
- ca:Sofia
- ca:Cities in Bulgaria
- ca:National capitals
- ca:Places in Bulgaria
- Danish lemmas
- Danish proper nouns
- da:Sofia
- da:Cities in Bulgaria
- da:National capitals
- da:Places in Bulgaria
- Danish given names
- Danish female given names
- Estonian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Estonian lemmas
- Estonian proper nouns
- et:Sofia
- et:Cities in Bulgaria
- et:National capitals
- et:Places in Bulgaria
- Finnish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Finnish terms derived from Bulgarian
- Finnish 3-syllable words
- Finnish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Finnish/ofiɑ
- Rhymes:Finnish/ofiɑ/3 syllables
- Finnish lemmas
- Finnish proper nouns
- fi:Sofia
- fi:Cities in Bulgaria
- fi:National capitals
- fi:Places in Bulgaria
- Finnish given names
- Finnish female given names
- Finnish terms with quotations
- Finnish kulkija-type nominals
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French proper nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Sofia
- fr:Cities in Bulgaria
- fr:National capitals
- fr:Places in Bulgaria
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German proper nouns
- German feminine nouns
- German given names
- German female given names
- German terms borrowed from Bulgarian
- German terms derived from Bulgarian
- German neuter nouns
- de:Sofia
- de:Cities in Bulgaria
- de:National capitals
- de:Places in Bulgaria
- German uncountable nouns
- Italian 3-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ia
- Rhymes:Italian/ia/3 syllables
- Italian lemmas
- Italian proper nouns
- Italian feminine nouns
- Italian given names
- Italian female given names
- Italian terms borrowed from Bulgarian
- Italian terms derived from Bulgarian
- Italian 2-syllable words
- Rhymes:Italian/ɔfja
- Rhymes:Italian/ɔfja/2 syllables
- it:Sofia
- it:Cities in Bulgaria
- it:National capitals
- it:Places in Bulgaria
- Norwegian Bokmål terms borrowed from Bulgarian
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Bulgarian
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål proper nouns
- nb:Sofia
- nb:Cities in Bulgaria
- nb:National capitals
- nb:Places in Bulgaria
- Norwegian Bokmål given names
- Norwegian Bokmål female given names
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms borrowed from Bulgarian
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Bulgarian
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk proper nouns
- nn:Sofia
- nn:Cities in Bulgaria
- nn:National capitals
- nn:Places in Bulgaria
- Norwegian Nynorsk given names
- Norwegian Nynorsk female given names
- Polish terms borrowed from Bulgarian
- Polish terms derived from Bulgarian
- Polish 2-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Polish/ɔfja
- Rhymes:Polish/ɔfja/2 syllables
- Polish lemmas
- Polish proper nouns
- Polish feminine nouns
- pl:Sofia
- pl:Cities in Bulgaria
- pl:National capitals
- pl:Places in Bulgaria
- Polish singularia tantum
- Polish exonyms
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese proper nouns
- Portuguese feminine nouns
- Portuguese proper nouns with plurals
- Portuguese given names
- Portuguese female given names
- Slovak terms with IPA pronunciation
- Slovak lemmas
- Slovak proper nouns
- Slovak feminine nouns
- sk:Sofia
- sk:Cities in Bulgaria
- sk:National capitals
- sk:Places in Bulgaria
- Swedish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Swedish terms with audio pronunciation
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish proper nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Sofia
- sv:Cities in Bulgaria
- sv:National capitals
- sv:Places in Bulgaria
- Swedish given names
- Swedish female given names