Antony

Antony begins in Rome, in the family name Antonius that senators and generals carried long before any saint claimed it. Its oldest root is uncertain, probably Etruscan, so even the Romans could not say what it first meant.

The sense of "highly praiseworthy" came later, once readers tied the name to Greek words for praise and blossom. Polish keeps that reading in wspaniały, wybitny. The spelling Antony itself is the English form, the one Shakespeare gave to Mark Antony in his play Antony and Cleopatra.

Poland took the Latin closer to the source. Antoni stands as the full variant, Antek as the everyday diminutive, and Antonina as the name a daughter carries. The imieniny of Antoni falls on 13 June, the feast of Anthony of Padua. Open a class register and an Antek sits near the top.