Anthony

Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the Antonii, a gens (Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius) belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, a son of Heracles. Anthony is an English name that is in use in many countries. It has been among the top 100 most popular male baby names in the United States since the late 19th century and has been among the top 100 male baby names between 1998 and 2018 in many countries including Canada, Australia, England, Ireland and Scotland.

Equivalents include Antonio in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Maltese; Αντώνιος in Greek; António or Antônio in Portuguese; Antoni in Catalan, Polish, and Slovene; Anton in Dutch, Galician, German, Icelandic, Romanian, Russian, and Scandinavian languages; Antoine in French; Antal in Hungarian; and Antun or Ante in Croatian. The usual abbreviated form is Tony or Toni (sometimes Tone, Ant, Anth or Anton). Its use as a Christian name was due to the veneration of Saint Anthony the Great, the founder of Christian monasticism, particularly in Egypt. Also significant, in Roman Catholicism, has been the later cult of Saint Anthony of Padua.