How to say it
AN · tho · ny
/ˈæn.θə.ni/
Masculine
Anthony
Roman family name, root uncertain
What it means
From the Roman gens name Antonius. It's old, well-attested, and of genuinely uncertain pre-Roman origin (most likely Etruscan).
Antonius was one of the great Roman family names, including Mark Antony's. The root predates Latin and probably comes from Etruscan, where the trail goes cold. Christianity carried it forward through Saint Anthony the Great (the desert father of Egypt) and Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost things. The Spanish Antonio is where the name lives most strongly today: a top-ten boys' name across the Spanish-speaking world, and in the US the form most commonly behind an English-speaking Anthony, especially in Latino and Southwestern communities. Both Antonio and Anthony share the everyday short form Tony, often the daily-life name for someone formally registered Antonio at home. The 'th' in the English spelling is a Renaissance error. Tudor scholars guessed at a Greek root anthos (flower) that doesn't actually apply, but the spelling stuck.
Popularity over time
peaked at #7 in 2007, currently #46 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Tony is the near-universal short. Latino and Italian families sometimes use Tony as a short for Antonio rather than Anthony.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Mark Antony Roman general and politician, partner of Cleopatra
- Anthony Hopkins Welsh actor, The Silence of the Lambs and The Father
- Anthony Bourdain Chef, writer, and travel-show host
- Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic patron saint of lost things
Spelling variants
- Antony
- Antonio
- Anton
- Antoine
- Tony
Names with the same feeling
See Anthony from another angle
By style