Sophie war das zwölfte Kind des Kurfürsten Friedrich V. von der Pfalz und König von Böhmen und seiner Gattin Elisabeth Stuart.
Da Sophie bereits das 12. Kind ihrer Eltern war, war man unschlüssig über ihren Namen. Sophie von der Pfalz schrieb diesbezüglich in ihren Memoiren: "The plan was adopted of writing various names on slips of paper and casting lots for the one which I should bear; thus chance bestowed on me the name of Sophia … No sooner was I strong enough to be moved than the Queen my mother sent me to Leyden, which is but three days’ journey from the Hague, and where her Majesty had her whole family brought up apart from herself, preferring the sight of her monkeys and dogs to that of her children. At Leyden we had a court quite in the German style. Our hours as well as our curtsies were all laid down by rule. … I learned the Heidelberg catechism in German, and knew it by heart, without understanding a word of it. … as my brothers and sisters grew up, the Queen withdrew them from Leyden. The princes she sent to travel, and kept the princesses to live with herself at the Hague. I had been left at Leyden with a little brother [Gustav Adolf (1632-1641)] … he was very handsome, and I remember one afternoon, when the Queen [Sophies Mutter] had sent for us to the Hague to show us, as one would a stud of horses, to her cousin, the Princess of Nassau, that Mme. Gorin said, looking at us both, 'He is very handsome, but she is thin and ugly; I hope that she does not understand English.’ To my vexation I understood but too well, and was deeply distressed ..." (in: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover: 1630-1680, Translated by H. Forester, London 1888, pp. 2-8).
"[Sophie] records that she rose early every morning at seven, and received religious instruction before eight-thirty breakfast. Lessons lasted until eleven, the dinner hour. 'This meal always took place with great ceremony at a long table. On entering the dining-room I found all my brothers drawn up in front with their governors and gentlemen posted behind.' Before eating a mouthful the princess was obliged to make nine curtsies - a very deep one to her brothers, and a lesser one to their attendants, one in reply to her governess and another on relinquishing her gloves - 'again on placing myself opposite my brothers, again when the gentlemen brought me a large basin in which to wash my hands, again after grace was said and for the last and ninth time on seating myself.'" (in: Carola Oman: Elizabeth of Bohemia, id., p. 279).
"His death [der Tod ihres jüngsten Bruders im Januar 1641) broke up our court at Leyden, for to my great joy it was not thought advisable to leave me there quite alone … I came to live at my mother’s court at the Hague … I was not at all abashed by meeting with three elder sisters, all handsomer and more accomplished than myself, but felt quite pleased that my gaiety and wild spirits should serve to amuse them. Even the Queen took pleasure in me, and liked to see me teased, so that I might sharpen my wits in my own defence. I made it my business to tease everyone." (in: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover: 1630-1680, id., pp. 8-9).
Sophie von der Pfalz beschreibt sich selbst: "I had light brown naturally curling hair, a gay and easy manner, a good though not very tall figure, and the bearing of a princess." (in: Memoirs of Sophia, Electress of Hanover: 1630-1680, id., p.17).