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My great great grandmother was Sophia, pronounced with a long "i" as in "eye". She was British and emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900's. I, of course, never knew her and wondered about the pronunciation when told about her by my grandmother, who never knew her either, but did know Sophia's daughter (my great grandmother who, unfortunately, I never knew either as she died before I was born). Through doing family research, I was able to find and speak with an elderly distant relative who, as a young girl, did know Sophia, and had traveled west with her by train, and she assured me that Sophia was indeed called so-FIE-uh, never so-FEE-uh.

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Aside from costume dramas, as you mentioned, the only other Sophia I've ever heard pronounced with the long "i" is contemporary actress Sophia Myles, also British.

It depends on what language it's used in. English tends to use the eye, but Afrikaans always has the ee, but a little shorter.

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I should think you could still use it, and just impose your will on the public! I once met a couple from England who'd just had their first baby and named her Fiona ... but they pronounced that with an eye, and were really insistent. To my mind it wrecked a good name, but they obviously thought the rest of the regiment was out of step.