Anthony - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 3 syll. an-(t)ho-ny, ant-h-ony ] The boy name Anthony is pronounced as AENTHahNiy ^KEY. Anthony is largely used in the English language and it is derived from Latin origins. The name is of the meaning priceless, inestimable. The first name is from the Roman family name Antonius (Latin), of which the most famous member is Mark Antony, the follower of Julius Caesar; his name in Latin is Marcus Antonius. His story is well-known from the Shakespeare tragedy Antony and Cleopatra (1623). The Roman family name is of obscure and probably Etruscan origin, although there were erroneous attempts to associate it with the Greek element 'anthos' meaning 'flower'. These attempts led to the '-th-' spelling of the name, especially after the Reformation. Others suggest the meaning 'priceless' or 'inestimable'. The name was borne by various early saints, notably Saint Anthony the Great (251-356), who founded Christian monasticism; and Saint Anthony of Lisbon and Padua (1195-1231), one of the most well-loved saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The name has been generally used in English speaking countries since the 12th century. In literature, the name is known from Sir Anthony Absolute in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy The Rivals (1775), and the short form from Tony Lumpkin in Oliver Goldsmith's comedy She Stoops to Conquer (1773). The name Antonia (Dutch, English, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, and Spanish) is the female equivalent of Anthony.

The name Anthony is widely used; it has 64 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Anthony used in English include Antwan, Antwon, and Toni (also used in Finnish, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Slavic, and Spanish). Other English forms include the short form Tony, the pet forms Andy, Tone, and Toney, and the variant spellings Anthoney and Antony.

Foreign variants of Anthony include Akoni (Hawaiian), Anakoni (Hawaiian), Anders (Scandinavian), Andoni (Basque), Andonios (Greek), Andonis (Greek), Anntoin (Irish), Antain (Irish), Antaine (Irish), Antal (Hungarian), Antanas (Lithuanian), Ante (Slavic), Antek (Czech and Polish), Anti (Hungarian), Antin (Russian), Antinko (Russian), Anto (Slavic), Antoin (Irish), Antoine (French and Irish), Anton (Czech, German, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Antoni (Catalan and Polish), Antonie (Dutch), Antonije (Slavic), Antonin (Czech, French, and Polish), Antonio (Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), Antonios (Greek), Antonius (Dutch), Antono (Esperanto), Antons (Latvian), Antos (Polish), Antón (Galician), António (Portuguese), Antton (Basque), Antun (Slavic), Tavas (Lithuanian), Tolek (Polish), Tonda (Czech), Tonek (Polish), Tonik (Czech), Tonio (Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), Tonis (Greek), Toño (Spanish), Tosya (Russian), Tõnis (Estonian), Tönjes (Frisian and German), Tusya (Russian), and Twan (Dutch). Specific foreign variants include the short forms Teunis (Dutch) and Tönnies (Frisian and German), and the pet forms Anchjo (Esperanto), Antonello (Italian), Theun (Dutch), Thonus (Dutch), Tonete (Spanish), and Tóni (Hungarian).

See also the related form, Antonino (Italian).

Anthony is a very popular baby name for boys. The name's popularity rose from the 1900s up to the 1980s; before that, it was of occasional use only. At the peak of its usage in 1987, 1.187% of baby boys were given the name Anthony. Its ranking then was #17. The baby name has since experienced a fall in popularity. In 2008, its usage was 0.844% and its ranking #7, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2008, Anthony was more commonly used than the next most popular name, Antonio (Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), by 4 times. The name Anthony has been predominantly given to boys, though it has also been used as a girl name in the past century. In 1988, boys named Anthony outnumbered girls by 127 times.

Baby names that sound like Anthony include Amitan (East Indian), Andoni (Basque), Anthoney (English), Antoni (Catalan and Polish), Antonie (Dutch), Antonin (Czech, French, and Polish), Antonín (Czech), Antono (Esperanto), Antony (English), Antain (Irish), Antaine (Irish), Antin (Russian), Antoine (French and Irish), Anton (Czech, German, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Antonino (Italian), Antonio (Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), Antón (Galician), António (Portuguese), Antton (Basque), and Antun (Slavic).

---

Name Popularity Trend + Variant Popularity ChartVariant Popularity Trend + Variant Popularity ChartUnisex Popularity TrendsSound-Like Popularity Trend + Sound-Like Comparison Chart