Anthony

A Roman soldier, a Renaissance saint who preached to fish, a desert hermit who wandered into the Egyptian wilderness and more or less invented Christian monasticism — Antonius is a clan name with a long and eccentric guest list. The meaning is famously uncertain; centuries of folk etymology linked it to the Greek anthos, "flower," and the association stuck even if the philology didn't. Anthony now sits at rank 44 in the United States, with a particularly devoted following in Italian-American communities. Three syllables, the opening A wide, the TH often softened to a plain T in casual speech. Vintage, strong, and quietly stately.