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. Antonius (Latin) is an original form of Anthony. The first name is from the Roman family name, 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. 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 44 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Anthony used in English include Antwan and Antwon. 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 Anakoni (Hawaiian), Andoni (Basque), Andonis (Greek), Antain (Irish), Antaine (Irish), Antal (Hungarian), Antanas (Lithuanian), Ante (Slavic), Anto (Slavic), Antoine (French), Anton (German, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Antoni (Catalan and Polish), Antonie (Dutch), Antonije (Slavic), Antonin (French), Antonio (Italian and Spanish), Antonius (Dutch), Antono (Esperanto), Antón (Galician), António (Portuguese), Antton (Basque), Antun (Slavic), Toni (Finnish and German), Tonio (Italian and Spanish), Toño (Spanish), Tõnis (Estonian), Tönjes (Frisian and German), 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 2007, its usage was 0.886% and its ranking #7, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2007, Anthony was more commonly used than the next most popular name, Antonio (Italian 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 Andoni (Basque), Anthoney (English), Antoni (Catalan and Polish), Antonie (Dutch), Antonin (French), Antonín (Czech), Antono (Esperanto), Antony (English), Antain (Irish), Antaine (Irish), Antoine (French), Anton (German, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Antonino (Italian), Antonio (Italian and Spanish), Antón (Galician), António (Portuguese), Antton (Basque), Antun (Slavic), Antwan (English), and Antwon (English).

^KEY: Pronunciation for Anthony: AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)"

Details of famous persons named Anthony:
Actor Anthony Daniels, born 21 February 1946, Salisbury, England.
Actor Anthony Denison, born 1950, New York, New York.
Actor Anthony Hopkins, born 31 December 1937, Port Talbot, Wales.
Actor Anthony Quinn, born 21 April 1915 - 3 June 2001, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Actor Anthony Perkins, born 4 April 1932 - 12 September 1992, New York City, New York.
Author Anthony Burgess, born John Burgess Wilson, 25 February 1917 - 22 November 1993, Harpurhey, Manchester, England.
Auto Racer A. J. Foyt, born Anthony Joseph Foyt, 16 January 1935, Houston, Texas.
Aviator Anthony Fokker, born 6 April 1890 - 23 December 1939.
Political Figure Tony Blair, born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, 6 May 1953, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Political Figure Anthony Eden, born Robert Anthony Eden, 12 June 1897 - 14 January 1977, West Auckland, County Durham, England.

Popularity Trend
for Anthony
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Anthony
in 2007