Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Sophia - too popular?

39 replies

BooksnTea · 27/11/2019 10:12

We just found out the gender of our first child at a growth scan at 39 weeks. We're delighted to be having a girl! Over the last few months, we had ironed out our favourite first names for each gender and our girl name is Sophia. We like the meaning (wisdom) and that it's classic and easy for people to know how to pronounce on sight. But now I'm having second thoughts as it's so very popular. Should we consider a different first name???
The other thing we've been thinking about is what middle names to use, if we stick with Sophia. We plan to have 2 middle names as that's what DH's family do. Both of my grandmothers were named Margaret, so we definitely want that as 1 of the middle names, even if we change our first name. What do people think for the other middle name and the ordering?
If we stick with Sophia, here are some of our favourite combos so far:
Sophia Margaret Elizabeth
Sophia Margaret Gabriella
Sophia Margaret Hope
Sophia Margaret Olivia
Sophia Helen Margaret (Helen is a family name on DH's side)
Any input would be helpful. Smile Thank you

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
cerios156 · 02/12/2019 00:37

Actual Sophia here! In my late 20s.

Always served me well. I went by Sophie until university when I "graduated" to the less cute, slightly more mature sounding Sophia. Nicknames have included Fee and the decidedly less glamorous "Soph."

It's an incredibly international name that works well in other languages (in case your daughter ends up traveling often) and seems to be a weird hit with the older generations especially. I know it's been on the charts for a while, but I honestly very very rarely meet other Sophias. Probably one every three or four years.

I would definitely go with Sophia over Sofia, but I'm biased.

And for the love of god, don't expect anyone to call her "suh-FIE-uh" without prompting. My friend called her daughter Melissa and always gets upset when no one pronounces it MEL-iss-a like she intended. Smh.

littlealexhorne · 29/11/2019 23:04

I like Sophia Margaret Gabriella. Sophia is popular but not in the way of Megan/Emily/Olivia etc so I wouldn't worry about that, its a gorgeous name.

MidnightMystery · 29/11/2019 21:45

Sophia M Elizabeth
Beautiful name!

123Dancewithme · 29/11/2019 21:12

Sophia Margaret Helen would be lovely.

Minai · 29/11/2019 20:53

I love it. Popular names are popular for a reason and imho I don’t think it’s a bad think to have a popular name. I think people can place too much importance of having an unusual or unique name. I doubt there will be loads of other Sophia’s in her class. I have 2 very young children so have met a lot of babies at groups and I haven’t seen many Sophia’s.

Parttimewasteoftime · 29/11/2019 20:53

Does no one else think of Sophia the 1st the Princess programme on nick 😂 Like it and do not know any (2 school aged children)

MissHenty · 29/11/2019 20:44

Yes fair enough @TenThousandSpoons it’s always good to hear different opinions on here 👍

TenThousandSpoons · 29/11/2019 20:09

Well it’s the first thing I thought. If SMH Smith was written down I’d think it, same as if LOL Jones was written down.

MissHenty · 29/11/2019 18:37

I agree @sarah30000

Enko · 29/11/2019 18:24

It's a beautiful classic name. I would go with Sophia Helen Margaret if it is middle names for both sides of the family. I love using names like this. Each of my children is named after a loved family member

sarah30000 · 29/11/2019 18:02

Pretty sure no one ever is going to look at the initials SMH and think, oh no poor child, that means shaking my head 😂

TenThousandSpoons · 29/11/2019 17:49

Sophia is lovely. I’d avoid the SMH initials because of the acronym (“Shaking my head”) otherwise any of the middle names work well.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 29/11/2019 15:57

It was given to 0.36% babies last year. So approximately one in every 300 babies will be called Sophia.

It's a pretty name that travels well.

MikeUniformMike · 29/11/2019 15:49

Sophia seems more fresh than Ava, Olivia, Eva etc because it is quite a strong name.Great meaning.

I prefer the Soph-eye-a way of saying it.

A not overused classic Maria might be an alternative,or how about Margarita?

MikeUniformMike · 29/11/2019 15:46

I prefer Sophie too but Sophia is very nice. It was very popular about 8 years ago around me. Helen is nice. I don't think you need two middle names with a three syllable first name.

Sophia Helen Tea is nice as is Sophia Margaret Tea.

diddlediddle · 29/11/2019 14:24

Oh and Helen is also lovely, in fact is my favourite. Helen Margaret Hope is beautiful.

diddlediddle · 29/11/2019 14:23

Sorry I think Sophia is terribly boring on account of how many there are - especially when combined with the Sofias and Sophies.

Love Margaret, Gabriella and Hope. Elizabeth is fine. Olivia is extremely common.

Could you have Margaret, Gabriella or Hope as the first name?

LarkDescending · 29/11/2019 13:29

Congratulations! You can’t really go wrong with the classically beautiful Sophia.

I like Sophia Helen Margaret.from your combinations.

RowenaMud · 29/11/2019 13:13

I only like the name Sophie when said in a French accent 😀

It can sound so harsh in certain accents (and tv soaps!) so Sophia is nicer imo.

HopScotchHop · 29/11/2019 06:42

Also agree with previous posters that Sophia is very ‘now’. Sophie to me is more classic and pretty.

DramaAlpaca · 28/11/2019 23:42

Sophia is beautiful, but I also prefer Sophie.

As for middle names, I like Sophia Margaret Hope, or Sophia Margaret Helen.

Foxes157 · 28/11/2019 22:31

I'm biased but I much prefer Sophie, more classic and less of it's time than Sophia. It just looks and sounds better

It's a perfectly fine name

GoldishLeafs · 28/11/2019 22:13

I only know 2 Sophias and they are both sooooo adorable!!! 💕

Helbelle17 · 28/11/2019 22:12

We have a Sophia Elizabeth. I'm a teacher and haven't come across that many others, but I don't think it really matters.
It is a beautiful name and our little girl suits it perfectly.
There were lots of Helens when I was at school and university, but I still like my name!

HisBetterHalf · 28/11/2019 22:08

Sophia is a beautiful name

Swipe left for the next trending thread