Being such a prominent gens, bearers of the names Antonius and Antonia is ancient Rome are numerous. The most famous member of the family is Marcus Antonius -- or Mark Antony to us -- who propelled the influence of the family to the rival the Julii. Mark Antony himself had no fewer than three daughters named Antonia: Antonia Prima, Antonia Major ("the elder") and Antonia Minor ("the younger"). All three women made influential marriages, becoming the grandmothers of emperors and queens.
The influence of the gens led to Antonius becoming a common name during the Roman Empire and later Byzantine Empire. It was borne by numerous saints, the most famous of which was Saint Antony the Great (251-356) who became much venerated in the Middle Ages from the time of the Crusades and was the popular subject of art and much invoked for healing.
This veneration launched the use of the name in Britain in the Middle Ages, augmented by the popularity of St. Anthony of Padua (1195 - 1231), who was a favoured disciple of St. Francis of Assisi.
Antony (or Anthony from the 16th century) was not very common at first, though it did lead to the surnames Anthony, Anthoney and Anthonies. It grew much more common in the 16th century, however; Smith-Bannister's top 50 rankings for 1538-1700 has Anthony ranking within the top 30 consistently throughout this period, peaking at #10 in the 1580s.
During this period, the feminine form of Anthony (or Anthonye) was not Antonia, or even the French Antoinette; the vernacular form of Antonia in Britain was Anthony. This puts Anthony in the same company as Philip, Julian and Nicholas -- late medieval unisex names in which the masculine and feminine vernacular forms were the same. Baptism records for Antonia in the 16th and 17th century are most often Latinisations or daughters born to European-immigrant (often Spanish or German-speaking) parents.
The form Antonia didn't come back into use in the 18th century in Britain. It featured as the name of the heroine in Matthew Lewis' widely popular Gothic novel The Monk (1769) and was in use among the royal houses of Europe -- Marie Antoinette (a Prussian princess born 'Maria Antonia') was one of the most famous examples.
Despite this however, the name was uncommon throughout the 19th century, as birth registrations per decade in England and Wales show:
1840s: 21 births 1850s: 40 births 1860s: 49 births 1870s: 47 births 1880s: 54 births 1890s: 86 births 1900s: 138 births
Antonia continued to be used under the radar for much of the 20th century. However, curiously, short-from Toni took on a life of it's own and became moderately popular as Dunkling's data for the number of children registered with the name Antonia in every 10,000 births in England and Wales demonstrates:
|
1900 |
1925 |
1935 |
1950 |
1955 |
1960 |
1965 |
1970 |
1975 |
1980 |
1985 |
1990 |
Antonia |
- |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
4 |
1 |
- |
2 |
4 |
2 |
Toni |
|
|
|
|
2 |
2 |
12 |
8 |
- |
6 |
18 |
22 |
Though Antonia became more common during the 1980s, it never broke into the top 100. Toni, however, ranked at #100 in both 1984 and 1994. Tony for boys had been in the top 100 individually since 1944, but fell out after 1984.
Since 1996, Toni has been on a steady decline. Less popular Antonia, also declined, but less rapidly and has actually succeeded Toni as the more popular form since 2002.
In 1996, Antonia ranked #190 with 234 births. From that point it gradually (and slightly sporadically) fell to its nadir of #538 (74 births) in 2010. Since then it has been gradually rising, reaching #315 (147 births) in 2014.
In Scotland, Antonia ranked #318 (12 births) in 2015.
|