Anthony

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin Antonius, name of a Roman gens (with excrescent -h- suggested by an unetymological association with Greek ἄνθος (ánthos, flower)). The Roman clan name is of uncertain etymology, but is not Greek or Hebrew; most likely of Etruscan origin, possibly derived from Ani, the Etruscan god of the sky.

The reference to "Antonius"—swineherd patron and to pigs is especially noteworthy in Anthony from the "Online Etymology Dictionary":

"[...] St. Anthony (4c.), Egyptian hermit, patron saint of swineherds, to whom one of each litter was usually vowed, hence Anthony for "smallest pig of the litter (1660s; in condensed form tantony pig from 1590s)[...]"

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Anthony

  1. A male given name, in regular use since the Middle Ages.
    • 1922 F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned:
      "...Think you've got the best name I've heard," she was saying. - - "Anthony Patch. Only you ought to look sort of like a horse, with a long narrow face - and you ought to be in tatters." "That's the Patch part though. How should Anthony look?" "You look like Anthony," she assured him seriously - he thought she had scarcely seen him - "rather majestic," she continued, " and solemn."
    • 1952 Thomas Pyles, Words and Ways of American English, Random House, page 245:
      It is doubtless true that American English lacks a tradition for the pronunciation of Anthony, a name which was not often bestowed upon American males until the comparatively recent craze for supposedly swank "British" Christian names, like Stephen, Peter, Michael, etc., in this country.
    • 1955 Joseph Heller, Catch-22, Chapter Five:
      She was built like a dream and wore a chain around her neck with a medal of Saint Anthony hanging down inside the most beautiful bosom I never saw. "It must be a terrible temptation for Saint Anthony," I joked - just to put her at ease, you know. "Saint Anthony?" her husband said. "Who's Saint Anthony?"
  2. A patronymic surname.
  3. A city in Kansas, USA, and the county seat of Harper County.
  4. A city in New Mexico
  5. A town in Texas

Translations

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