The story in the numbers

1,481,986 boys have been named Anthony in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1990, with 25,087 births — 1.2% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 21 → 44).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1981, and the 1990s alone account for 15%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 143 of them in the top 100 and 6 in the top 10.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 7,104 girls have also been given it, 0.48% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Anthony

1,611

2,453

5,043

35,627

50,054

42,545

64,824

136,652

203,145

174,886

211,870

216,229

191,917

112,125

33,005

In 1990, its biggest year

Anthony was the 15th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1990 were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Daniel. See all of 1990.

Names that rose and fell with Anthony

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.