Anthony or 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 throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, the British Isles, Guyana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Nigeria."Anthony" is equivalent to Antonio in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and Maltese; António or Antônio in Portuguese; 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 (sometimes "Tone" or "Ant" or "Anth" or "Anton"). Its use as a Christian name was due to the veneration of St Anthony the Great, the founder of Christian monasticism, particularly in Egypt. Also significant was the later cult of St Antony of Padua. The spelling with "h" is not found until the 16th century when William Camden claimed that the name derived from the Greek ἄνθος (anthos, flower or possibly a small yellow bird such as a wagtail). The spelling pronunciation later became usual in the United States but not in the British Isles.In the United States, it is the seventh most popular male name as of 2008, according to the Social Security Administration. When the background is Italian, Nino or Toni, shortened from Antonino, are used. Its popularity in the United Kingdom peaked during the 1940s, in 1944 it was the sixth most popular male name and was still as high as 14th in 1964.
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