Anton
A masculine name derived from the Roman name Antonius, meaning "priceless".
Name Census estimates that about 15,151 living Americans carry the first name Anton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Anton today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anton births was 1915 (357 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anton. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Anton with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,623 Americans
Peak year
1915
357 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,477
Tracked since 1880
Census
Anton in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 19,355 people with the first name Anton, which placed it at #1,634 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,634
National first-name rank
People counted
19K
19,355 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anton
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anton is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.1%) and Hispanic (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Anton described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Anton at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.3% · 12,832
- Black or African American19.1% · 3,705
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 1,076
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 840
- Two or more races4.1% · 795
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 107
Gender
Gender distribution for Anton
Out of the 23,804 babies given the name Anton since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Anton as a male name
- Ranked #1,477 in 2024
- 122 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1915 (357 births)
Anton as a female name
- Ranked #7,792 in 1986
- 8 female births in 1986
- Peak: 1973 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anton appears almost entirely male. Of the 19,345 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Anton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anton from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,580 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anton by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Anton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Antons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. Illinois, New York, California recorded the most babies named Anton, while Nevada, Oklahoma, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 425 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anton
The name Anton has its origins in the Roman family name Antonius, derived from the Greek word "antyonios" meaning "priceless" or "invaluable." It is believed to have emerged as a given name in the early centuries of the Roman Empire, possibly inspired by the famous Roman general and statesman Mark Antony.
The name gained widespread popularity in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was adopted in its Slavic form, Anton. In the Russian Orthodox tradition, Anton was associated with the early Christian martyr Saint Anthony the Great, who lived in Egypt in the 3rd and 4th centuries.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Anton was Anton Pavlovich Shuvalov, a Russian military leader and statesman who lived in the 18th century (1730-1796). Another notable figure was Anton Rubinstein, a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor who lived from 1829 to 1894 and was widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of his time.
In the realm of literature, Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a renowned Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered one of the greatest writers of the modern era. His works, including plays like "The Cherry Orchard" and short stories like "The Lady with the Dog," have had a lasting impact on literature worldwide.
The name Anton also has a rich history in the arts, with notable figures like Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), a German painter and a leading figure in the Neoclassical movement. In the field of music, Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) was an Austrian composer known for his grandiose symphonies that greatly influenced the development of Romantic music.
Outside of Eastern Europe, the name Anton has also been used, though less commonly. One notable example is Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), a Dutch scientist who is considered the father of microbiology for his pioneering work in microscopy and the study of microorganisms.
Throughout history, the name Anton has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions across various fields, from military and politics to arts, literature, and science. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its rich cultural heritage and the accomplishments of its notable bearers.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Anton
People
Anton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anton as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Anton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,151 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anton going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 22,623 US residents.
Is Anton a common name?
We classify Anton as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23,804 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anton most popular?
The single biggest year for Anton was 1915, when 357 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anton is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anton in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 19,355 people with the name Anton, or 6.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,634 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Anton in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Anton?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anton appears almost entirely male. Of the 19,345 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Anton?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anton is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.1%) and Hispanic (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Anton most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Anton in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.3% (12,832 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Anton in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anton a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Anton in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Anton still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anton in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Anton can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Anton?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.