Antonio

Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa.^[1] It has been among the top 400 most popular male baby names in the United States since the late 19th century and has been among the top 200 since the mid 20th century.^[2]

Antonio is a Roman family name originally from the Greek word anteo, antao, which means ready to fight.^[3]

In the English language, it is translated as Anthony, and has some female derivatives: Antonia, Antónia, Antonieta, Antonietta, and Antonella'. It also has some male derivatives, such as Anthonio, Antón, Antò, Antonis, Antoñito, Antonino, Antonello, Tonio, Tono, Toño, Toñín, Tonino, Nantonio, Ninni, Totò, Tó, Tonini, Tony, Toni, Toninho, Toñito, and Tõnis. The Portuguese equivalent is António (Portuguese orthography) or Antônio (Brazilian Portuguese). In old Portuguese the form Antão was also used, not just to differentiate between older and younger but also between more and less important.^{[citation needed]} In Galician the form is Antón, in Catalan Antò, and Basque Antxon. The Greek versions of the name are Antonios (Αντώνιος) and Antonis (Αντώνης).

The name derives from Antonius, a well-known Latin family name, probably of Etruscan origin. The Roman general Marcus Antonius held that the origin of the name was Anthon (Ανθών), son of Hercules. This myth, recorded by Plutarch, was probably created by Marcus Antonius himself, in order to claim divine parentage. The name was in use throughout the Roman world which, at its height, comprised the whole of the Mediterranean, much of Europe and the Middle East. When the Roman Empire became Christian, the name continued to be popular because of the many great saints who bore it. Later, the name was spread all around the world as Christianity was forced to other locations (e.g. the Far East, the Americas, Australia, and Sub-Saharan Africa).