Sophie

Sophie grows from the Greek word sophia, which means wisdom. The name carried that meaning long before it belonged to any child. It passed through French, German, and English use, and each language kept the old sense of mądrość more or less intact.

In Poland the same root wears different clothes. Sophie stands beside Zofia, its fuller variant, and Sofia, a second spelling of the one idea. The form a child actually answers to is Zosia, worn smooth by daily use at home.

A short name holds a large word. On a class register Zosia takes up a single line, though the wisdom behind it reaches back to Greek. So the meaning holds steady, from sophia to Zofia and down to plain mądrość.