Tony

What Tony means

Means “Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre”

The statuettes awarded by the American Theatre Wing are formally known as “Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre”; they are named for Antoinette Perry (1888–1946), an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Th

Source: Wiktionary, “Tony” (revision 94544134), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Tony?

US: Falling: down from #500 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #682 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1962, when 8,197 boys got the name (#52 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 5,256 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 15,108 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in KS (0.43 per 1,000 boys), LA (0.42 per 1,000 boys), MD (0.39 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Tony is #783 in the US and #1466 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Tony were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Donny28 US · 17 E&W
• Dany36 US
• Tino14 US · 9 E&W
• Tanay10 US
• Tano9 US
• Toni8 US
• Tonny6 US
• Toney6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Tony

Boys

• David#35“beloved”^*
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*
• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Eric#273Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 23,571 babies; 1,256 in 2025
• Kenneth#294“handsome”^*

For a sister

• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Amy#257“beloved”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Tony’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.