Sophia , also spelled Sofia , is a feminine given name , from Greek Σοφία, Sophía , "Wisdom" . Other forms include Sophie , Sophy , and Sofie. The given name is first recorded in the beginning of the 4th century. It is a common female name in the Eastern Orthodox countries. It became very popular in the West beginning in the later 1990s and became one of the most popularly given girls' names in the Western world in the first decades of the 21st century.
37-503: Sophia was known as the personification of wisdom by early Christians and Saint Sophia is also an early Christian martyr. Both associations contributed to the usage of the name. The name was comparatively common in continental Europe in the medieval and early modern period. It was popularized in Britain by the German House of Hanover in the 18th century. It was repeatedly popularised among
74-703: A church to Christ as the personification of Divine Wisdom. In Constantinople , under Justinian I , the Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") was rebuilt, consecrated in 538, and became a model for many other Byzantine churches. In the Latin Church, however, "the Word" or Logos came through more clearly than "the Wisdom" of God as a central, high title of Christ . In the theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church , Holy Wisdom
111-521: A crowned virgin; in Russian Orthodox tradition , she has a more supernatural aspect of a crowned woman with wings in a glowing red colour. The virgin martyrs Faith, Hope, and Charity, with their mother Sophia are depicted as three small girls standing in front of their mother in widow's dress. Allegory of Wisdom and Strength is a painting by Paolo Veronese , created c. 1565 in Venice . It
148-702: A number of Christian mystics and religious leaders, including George Rapp , William Law , and the Harmony Society . Sophia is not a "goddess" in classical Greek tradition; Greek goddesses associated with wisdom are Metis and Athena (Latin Minerva ). By the Roman Empire , it became common to depict the cardinal virtues and other abstract ideals as female allegories . Thus, in the Library of Celsus in Ephesus , built in
185-588: A statue of Lenin . Wisdom (personification) The personification of wisdom , typically as a righteous woman, is a motif found in religious and philosophical texts, most notably in the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish and Christian texts. The Greek Septuagint , and both the Qumran and Masada Hebrew versions of Ben Sira conclude with a first-person character speaking in Wisdom's voice as in
222-492: A voiced sibilant, Zofia, Žofia, Žofie . French has the (disyllabic) hypocoristic Sophie , which was also introduced in German, Dutch/Flemish, English and Scandinavian in the spelling Sofie and Sophy . A Dutch hypocoristic is Sofieke . Russian has the hypocoristic Соня ( Sonya ), which in the late 19th century was introduced to Western languages, in the spellings Sonya , Sonia and Sonja , via characters with this name in
259-564: Is "an emanation of the Divine principle" typified by "some goddesses — Metis, Neitha, Athena, the Gnostic Sophia..." A goddess Sophia was also introduced into Anthroposophy , a movement that grew out of Theosophy. The founder of Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), wrote prolifically about Sophia, as can be seen in compilations of his writing such as The Goddess: From Natura to Divine Sophia (2001) or Isis Mary Sophia (2003). Since
296-581: Is a central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion , Platonism , Gnosticism and Christian theology . Originally carrying a meaning of "cleverness, skill", the later meaning of the term, close to the meaning of phronesis ("wisdom, intelligence"), was significantly shaped by the term philosophía ("love of wisdom") as used by Plato . In the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church ,
333-482: Is a hagiographical tradition, dating to the late sixth century, of a Saint Sophia and her three daughters, Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity . This has been taken as the veneration of allegorical figures from an early time, and the group of saints has become popular in Russian Orthodox iconography as such (the names of the daughters rendered as Вѣра, Надежда, Любовь ). The veneration of the three saints named for
370-456: Is a large-scale allegorical painting depicting Divine Wisdom personified on the left and Hercules , representing Strength and earthly concerns, on the right. Sophia figures prominently in Theosophy , an influential spiritual movement founded by Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891). Blavatsky wrote in her essay What is Theosophy? that it is an esoteric wisdom doctrine, and that the "Wisdom" referred to
407-547: Is named as one of the four cardinal virtues (in place of phrónēsis ) in Plato 's Protagoras . Philo , a Hellenized Jew writing in Alexandria , attempted to harmonize Platonic philosophy and Jewish scripture. Also influenced by Stoic philosophical concepts , he used the Koine term lógos ( λόγος ) for the role and function of Wisdom, a concept later adapted by the author of
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#1732855070809444-507: Is that while techniques of traditional story-telling are used, books also presume to offer insight and wisdom about nature and reality. The Sapiential Books or "Books of Wisdom" is a term used in biblical studies to refer to a subset of the books of the Jewish Bible in the Septuagint version. There are seven of these books, namely the books of Job , Psalms , Proverbs , Ecclesiastes ,
481-739: Is the abstract noun of σοφός ( sophós ), which variously translates to "clever, skillful, intelligent, wise". The noun σοφία as "skill in handicraft and art" is Homeric and in Pindar is used to describe both Hephaestos and Athena . Before Plato , the term for "sound judgment, intelligence, practical wisdom" and so on—such qualities as are ascribed to the Seven Sages of Greece —was phrónēsis ( φρόνησις ), from phrēn ( φρήν , lit. ' mind ' ), while sophía referred to technical skill. The term philosophía ( φιλοσοφία , lit. ' love of wisdom ' )
518-589: Is the end of all that has come into being?". Irenaeus represents another, minor patristic tradition which identified the Spirit of God, and not Christ himself, as "Wisdom". He could appeal to Paul's teaching about wisdom being one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 12:8 ). However, the majority applied to Christ the title/name of "Wisdom". Constantine the Great set a pattern for Eastern Christians by dedicating
555-646: Is understood as the Divine Logos who became incarnate as Jesus; this belief being sometimes also expressed in some Eastern Orthodox icons. In the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church, the exclamation Sophia! or in English Wisdom! will be proclaimed by the deacon or priest at certain moments, especially before the reading of scripture, to draw the congregation's attention to sacred teaching. There
592-722: The Book of Wisdom , the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), and Sirach . Not all the Psalms are usually regarded as belonging to the Wisdom tradition. In Judaism , the Books of Wisdom are regarded as part of the Ketuvim or "Writings". In Christianity , Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are included in the Old Testament by all traditions, while Wisdom, Song of Songs and Sirach are regarded in some traditions as deuterocanonical . Sapiential books are in
629-834: The Gospel of John in its opening verses and applied to Jesus as the Word ( Logos ) of God the Father . In Gnosticism , Sophia is a feminine figure, analogous to the soul , but also simultaneously one of the emanations of the Monad . Gnostics held that she was the syzygy of Jesus (i.e. the Bride of Christ ) and was the Holy Spirit of the Trinity . Christian theology received the Old Testament personification of Divine Wisdom ( Septuagint Sophia , Vulgate Sapientia ). The connection of Divine Wisdom to
666-515: The Old Testament .) Philo , a Hellenised Jew writing in Alexandria, attempted to harmonise Platonic philosophy and Jewish scripture. Also influenced by Stoic philosophical concepts, he used the Greek term logos , "word," for the role and function of Wisdom, a concept later adapted by the author of the Gospel of John in the opening verses and applied to Jesus Christ as the eternal Word (Logos) of God
703-563: The Philadelphian Society , wrote copious descriptions of her visions and dialogues with the "Virgin Sophia" who, she said, revealed to her the spiritual workings of the Universe. Leade was influenced by the theosophical writings of sixteenth century German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme , who also speaks of the Sophia in works such as The Way to Christ . Jakob Böhme was very influential to
740-581: The 1960s to 1980s. During the 1990s to the 2010s, the popularity of the name rose dramatically in many countries throughout the western world. Suggested influences for this trend include Sofía Vergara and Sofia Coppola (popular from the late 1990s) and Sofia Hellqvist (popular from the 2000s). Sophia and variants of the name remain among the most currently popularly given names for girls in countries across Europe as well as countries in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and others. In 2022, Sophia
777-522: The 1970s, Sophia has also been invoked as a goddess in Dianic Wicca and related currents of feminist spirituality. The 1979 installation artwork The Dinner Party features a place setting for Sophia. There is a monumental sculpture of Holy Wisdom depicted as a "goddess" in Sofia , the capital of Bulgaria (the city itself is named after Saint Sofia Church ). The sculpture was erected in 2000 to replace
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#1732855070809814-479: The 2nd century, there are four statues of female allegories, depicting wisdom (Sophia), knowledge ( Episteme ), intelligence ( Ennoia ) and valour/excellence ( Arete ). In the same period, Sophia assumes aspects of a goddess or angelic power in Gnosticism . In Christian iconography , Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia was depicted as a female allegory from the medieval period. In Western (Latin) tradition, she appears as
851-510: The Book of Proverbs, though it is not certain that this was not appended to Ben Sira from another work. A less clear personification of Wisdom is also found in the Cave 11 Psalm Scroll. Wisdom literature is a genre of literature common in the ancient Near East . This genre is characterized by sayings of wisdom intended to teach about divinity and about virtue . The key principle of wisdom literature
888-405: The Father. According to Perkins, in early Gnosticism (1st–2nd century CE) a wisdom tradition developed, in which Jesus' sayings were interpreted as pointers to an esoteric wisdom, in which the soul could be divinized through identification with wisdom. Perkins further said that a mythical story developed in early Gnosticism about the descent of a heavenly creature to reveal the Divine world as
925-711: The Trinity of the three hypostases, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, "which safeguards the unity of the Holy Trinity". It was the topic of a highly political controversy in the early 1930s and was condemned by the Russian Orthodox church as heretical in 1935. Within the Protestant tradition in England, Jane Leade , seventeenth-century Christian mystic , Universalist , and founder of
962-529: The Wisdom of God as a mystery which was "ordained before the world unto our glory". Following 1 Corinthians, the Church Fathers named Christ as "Wisdom of God". Therefore, when rebutting claims about Christ's ignorance, Gregory of Nazianzus insisted that, inasmuch as he was divine, Christ knew everything: "How can he be ignorant of anything that is, when he is Wisdom, the maker of the worlds, who brings all things to fulfillment and recreates all things, who
999-634: The broad tradition of wisdom literature that was found widely in the Ancient Near East , and includes writings from many religions other than Judaism. The Greek noun sophia is the translation of "wisdom" in the Greek Septuagint for Hebrew חכמות Ḥokmot . Wisdom is a central topic in the "sapiential" books, i.e. Proverbs , Psalms , Song of Songs , Ecclesiastes , Book of Wisdom , Wisdom of Sirach , and to some extent Baruch (the last three are Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical books of
1036-603: The concept of the Logos resulted in the interpretation of "Holy Wisdom" ( Hagia Sophia ) as an aspect of Christ the Logos. The expression Ἁγία Σοφία itself is not found in the New Testament , even though passages in the Pauline epistles equate Christ with the "wisdom of God" ( θεοῦ σοφία ). The clearest form of the identification of Divine Wisdom with Christ comes in 1 Corinthians 1:17–2:13 . In 1 Corinthians 2:7 , Paul speaks of
1073-641: The feminine personification of divine wisdom as Holy Wisdom ( Ἁγία Σοφία ; Hagía Sophía ) can refer either to Jesus Christ the Word of God (as in the dedication of the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople ) or to the Holy Spirit . References to sophía in Koine Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible are translated from the Hebrew term Chokmah . The Ancient Greek word sophía ( σοφία )
1110-558: The incarnation, with the Theotokos being the "house" chosen by the " hypostatic Wisdom" (i.e. "Wisdom" as a person of the Trinity ). In Russian Orthodox mysticism , Sophia became increasingly indistinguishable from the person of the Theotokos (rather than Christ), to the point of the implication of the Theotokos as a "fourth person of the Trinity". Such interpretations became popular in
1147-415: The late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, forwarded by authors such as Vladimir Solovyov , Pavel Florensky , Nikolai Berdyaev , and Sergei Bulgakov . Bulgakov's theology, known as " Sophianism ", presented Divine Wisdom as " consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity", operating as the aspect of consubstantiality ( ousia or physis , substantia or natura ) or " hypostaticity " of
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1184-414: The novels Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866, English translation 1885) and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1869, English translation 1886). Turkish Safiye is from the unrelated Arabic Safiyya ( صفية "pure"). Persian Sofia ( Persian : صوفیا) is from unrelated Sufi , a sect of Islam . Sophia (wisdom) Sophia ( Koinē Greek : σοφία , sophía —" wisdom ")
1221-542: The three theological virtues probably arose in the 6th century. The Christological identification of Christ the Logos with Divine Wisdom ( Hagia Sophia ) is strongly represented in the iconographic tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church . A type of icon of the Theotokos is "Wisdom hath builded Her house" ( Премудрость созда Себе дом ), a quote from Proverbs 9:1 ("Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars") interpreted as prefiguring
1258-511: The wider population, by the name of a character in the novel Tom Jones (1794) by Henry Fielding , in The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith , and in the 1960s by Italian actress Sophia Loren (b. 1934). Sophia was comparatively popular in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century; its use declined in the 1920s to 1950s; it became again moderately popular during
1295-650: Was dubbed "the wisest [ σοφώτατος , sophṓtatos ] man of Greece" by the Pythian Oracle . Socrates defends this verdict in Apology to the effect that he, at least, knows that he knows nothing . Socratic skepticism is contrasted with the approach of the sophists , who are attacked in Gorgias for relying merely on eloquence . Cicero in De Oratore later criticized Plato for his separation of wisdom from eloquence. Sophía
1332-528: Was primarily used after the time of Plato , following his teacher Socrates , though it has been said that Pythagoras was the first to call himself a philosopher. This understanding of philosophía permeates Plato's dialogues, especially the Republic . In that work, the leaders of the proposed utopia are to be philosopher kings : rulers who are lovers of wisdom. According to Plato in Apology , Socrates himself
1369-634: Was the fifth most popular name given to girls in Canada, while Sofia was 13th. Greek Σοφία was adopted without significant phonological changes into numerous languages, as Sophia (German, and thence English) and Sofia (Romance languages, and thence also to Germanic languages and Finnish, etc.). The spelling Soffia is Icelandic and Welsh. Hungarian has Zsófia . Modern Spanish uses the acute diacritic, Sofía . South and East Slavic and Baltic languages have Sofija (Софија), Sofiya (София) and Sofya (Софья). West Slavic (Polish and Czech-Slovak) introduced
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