Athony
Of Greek origin, meaning "priceless one" or "highly praiseworthy".
Name Census estimates that about 468 living Americans carry the first name Athony. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Athony today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Athony births was 1986 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Athony. 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.
People living today
468
~ 1 in 732,381 Americans
Peak year
1986
29 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1995 SSA rank
#7,871
Tracked since 1952
Census
Athony in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 590 people with the first name Athony, which placed it at #18,296 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
#18,296
National first-name rank
People counted
590
590 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Athony
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Athony is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Black (25.6%) and Hispanic (21.7%). 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 Athony 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 Athony at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.3% · 273
- Black or African American25.6% · 151
- Hispanic or Latino21.7% · 128
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 20
- Two or more races2.0% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 6
Popularity
Athony: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Athony from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 167 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Athony 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 Athony during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Athonys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Athony
The name Athony has its origins in Ancient Greek culture, stemming from the root word "athanatos," which means "immortal" or "deathless." This name is believed to have originated around the 5th century BCE, during the height of classical Greek civilization.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Athony can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentioned an Athenian soldier by that name in his work "The Histories." This suggests that the name was already in use among the Greeks during the 5th century BCE.
In Greek mythology, the name Athony is often associated with the god Apollo, who was known for his immortal nature and his role as the god of light, music, and poetry. This association may have contributed to the popularity of the name among the ancient Greeks.
The name Athony gained further prominence in the early Christian era, as it was borne by several notable figures in the Church. One of the most famous was Athony the Great, a 4th-century Egyptian monk and considered the founder of Christian monasticism. He was born around 251 CE and lived to be over 100 years old, becoming one of the earliest and most influential figures in the monastic tradition.
Another significant historical figure with the name Athony was Athony of Padua, a 13th-century Franciscan friar and theologian. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195, he is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church and is known for his powerful preaching and miracles.
In the Renaissance period, the name Athony was also borne by the Italian artist Athony da Messina, who was active in the 15th century and is known for his altarpieces and frescoes. His works can still be seen in churches and museums throughout Italy.
Moving into the modern era, one of the most famous individuals named Athony was Athony Quinn, the Mexican-American actor born in 1915. He won two Academy Awards for his performances in "Viva Zapata!" and "Lust for Life" and was known for his powerful and intense portrayals of various characters throughout his career.
Another notable Athony was Athony Burgess, the English writer and composer born in 1917. He is best known for his novel "A Clockwork Orange," which was later adapted into a famous film by Stanley Kubrick. Burgess was a prolific author and made significant contributions to literature in the 20th century.
People
Athony + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Athony 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
Athony: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Athony?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 468 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Athony 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 732,381 US residents.
Is Athony a common name?
We classify Athony as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 516 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Athony most popular?
The single biggest year for Athony was 1986, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Athony is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Athony in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 590 people with the name Athony, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,296 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 Athony 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 Athony?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Athony appears almost entirely male. Of the 596 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Athony?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Athony is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Black (25.6%) and Hispanic (21.7%). 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 Athony most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Athony in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.3% (273 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 Athony in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Athony a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Athony 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 Athony still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Athony 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 Athony 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 many people have Athony as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Athony, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.