Toney
An English diminutive of Anthony, derived from the Latin name Antonius.
Name Census estimates that about 4,478 living Americans carry the first name Toney. It is a predominantly male name (97.1% of registrations). The average person named Toney today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toney births was 1961 (193 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toney. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Toney is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 194 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
4.5K
~ 1 in 76,542 Americans
Peak year
1961
193 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,708
Tracked since 1880
Census
Toney in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,421 people with the first name Toney, which placed it at #5,124 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
#5,124
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,421 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toney
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toney is Black at 52.2%. The next largest groups are White (37.0%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Toney 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 Toney at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.2% · 1,787
- White37.0% · 1,267
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 121
- Two or more races3.5% · 119
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 72
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 55
Gender
Gender distribution for Toney
Toney leans heavily male at 97.1% of total registrations, but 194 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Toney as a male name
- Ranked #12,169 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1961 (187 births)
Toney as a female name
- Ranked #11,708 in 1994
- 7 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1952 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toney leans strongly male. 3,203 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 226 female bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Toney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toney from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,466 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Toney 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 Toney during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Toneys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama recorded the most babies named Toney, while New York, Kentucky, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 126 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Toney
The name Toney has its roots in the Latin language and is derived from the word "Antonius," which was a Roman family name. It is believed to have originated during the Roman Republic period, which lasted from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC.
The name Antonius was prominent among the Roman nobility, and one of the most notable historical figures bearing this name was Marcus Antonius, a Roman politician and general who lived from 83 BC to 30 BC. He was a member of the Second Triumvirate, along with Octavian and Lepidus, and played a significant role in the Roman civil wars.
The name Toney is a variation of the name Anthony, which is the English form of the Latin Antonius. It is likely that the name Toney emerged as a diminutive or nickname for Anthony, particularly in English-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Toney can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings in England, compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name is listed as "Toni," which was a Norman French variant of the name Anthony.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Toney. For instance, Toney Douglas, an American professional basketball player, was born in 1986 and has played in the NBA and various international leagues. Toney Anaya, an American politician and author, was born in 1942 and served as the 25th Governor of New Mexico from 1983 to 1987.
Another prominent figure with the name Toney was Toney Penna, an American basketball player and coach, born in 1934. He played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons and later became a successful college basketball coach at the University of Detroit Mercy.
In the world of music, Toney Rocks was an American singer and songwriter, born in 1952, known for his work in the genre of soul and R&B. Additionally, Toney Graham, an American actor and singer, born in 1939, had a successful career on stage and in television.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Toney throughout history, demonstrating its enduring presence across various cultures and professions.
People
Toney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toney as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Toney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,478 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toney 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 76,542 US residents.
Is Toney a common name?
We classify Toney as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,604 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toney most popular?
The single biggest year for Toney was 1961, when 193 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toney is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Toney in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,421 people with the name Toney, or 1.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,124 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 Toney 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 Toney?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toney leans strongly male. 3,203 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 226 female bearers (6.6%). 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 Toney?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toney is Black at 52.2%. The next largest groups are White (37.0%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Toney most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Toney in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (1,787 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 Toney in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Toney a male name?
Yes, 97.1% of people registered as Toney 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 Toney still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Toney 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 Toney 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 Toney as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Toney on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.