Tony
Tony was given to 325 boys in 2025, #784 among boys’ names; 254,483 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 184,000 Americans named Tony and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (72% of everyone recorded); the median is 57 years old and half are between 42 and 65.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Tony by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Tony mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Tony is “a male given name, a short form of Anthony/Antony”
Clipping of Anthony /Antony. The statuettes awarded by the American Theatre Wing are formally known as “Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre”; they are named for Antoinette Perry (1888–1946), an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, who was nicknamed Tony.
/ˈtoʊni/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Tony?
#784 among boys’ names, 2025
Tony fell from #500 in 2015 to #784 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.30 to 0.19 per 1,000.
8,368 babies in 1961, the peak
Tony peaked in 1961, when 8,368 babies were given it (8,306 boys, #53 among boys’ names). The 325 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 325 | #784 | 0.19 |
| 2024 | 313 | #809 | 0.18 |
| 2023 | 290 | #842 | 0.17 |
| 2022 | 379 | #699 | 0.22 |
| 2021 | 392 | #679 | 0.22 |
| 2020 | 427 | #630 | 0.25 |
| 2019 | 467 | #593 | 0.26 |
| 2018 | 471 | #583 | 0.26 |
| 2017 | 520 | #544 | 0.28 |
| 2016 | 567 | #522 | 0.30 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 581 | #500 | 0.30 |
| 2014 | 666 | #448 | 0.35 |
| 2013 | 664 | #435 | 0.35 |
| 2012 | 653 | #428 | 0.34 |
| 2011 | 691 | #409 | 0.36 |
| 2010 | 751 | #383 | 0.39 |
| 2009 | 805 | #378 | 0.41 |
| 2008 | 886 | #354 | 0.43 |
| 2007 | 1,002 | #320 | 0.48 |
| 2006 | 985 | #328 | 0.48 |
| 2005 | 1,030 | #318 | 0.52 |
| 2004 | 959 | #321 | 0.48 |
| 2003 | 1,000 | #302 | 0.51 |
| 2002 | 1,072 | #281 | 0.55 |
| 2001 | 1,025 | #291 | 0.53 |
| 2000 | 1,086 | #283 | 0.55 |
| 1999 | 1,134 | #266 | 0.59 |
| 1998 | 1,177 | #255 | 0.62 |
| 1997 | 1,248 | #242 | 0.66 |
| 1996 | 1,315 | #229 | 0.69 |
| 1995 | 1,556 | #196 | 0.82 |
| 1994 | 1,627 | #190 | 0.84 |
| 1993 | 1,872 | #171 | 1.0 |
| 1992 | 1,927 | #163 | 1.0 |
| 1991 | 2,102 | #155 | 1.0 |
| 1990 | 2,183 | #147 | 1.1 |
| 1989 | 2,301 | #132 | 1.1 |
| 1988 | 2,243 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1987 | 2,291 | #123 | 1.2 |
| 1986 | 2,361 | #120 | 1.3 |
| 1985 | 2,525 | #114 | 1.4 |
| 1984 | 2,440 | #112 | 1.4 |
| 1983 | 2,351 | #119 | 1.3 |
| 1982 | 2,611 | #112 | 1.4 |
| 1981 | 2,650 | #111 | 1.5 |
| 1980 | 2,727 | #108 | 1.5 |
| 1979 | 2,645 | #104 | 1.5 |
| 1978 | 2,770 | #97 | 1.7 |
| 1977 | 2,938 | #92 | 1.8 |
| 1976 | 3,067 | #86 | 2.0 |
| 1975 | 3,322 | #80 | 2.1 |
| 1974 | 3,216 | #81 | 2.0 |
| 1973 | 3,348 | #78 | 2.1 |
| 1972 | 4,001 | #68 | 2.5 |
| 1971 | 4,889 | #62 | 2.8 |
| 1970 | 5,480 | #57 | 2.9 |
| 1969 | 5,516 | #54 | 3.1 |
| 1968 | 5,875 | #52 | 3.4 |
| 1967 | 6,220 | #50 | 3.6 |
| 1966 | 6,571 | #49 | 3.7 |
| 1965 | 6,815 | #48 | 3.7 |
| 1964 | 7,199 | #50 | 3.6 |
| 1963 | 7,879 | #52 | 3.9 |
| 1962 | 8,197 | #52 | 4.0 |
| 1961 | 8,306 | #53 | 3.9 |
| 1960 | 7,999 | #52 | 3.8 |
| 1959 | 7,564 | #53 | 3.5 |
| 1958 | 6,946 | #57 | 3.3 |
| 1957 | 5,857 | #71 | 2.7 |
| 1956 | 4,669 | #85 | 2.2 |
| 1955 | 3,752 | #93 | 1.8 |
| 1954 | 3,350 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 1953 | 2,771 | #117 | 1.4 |
| 1952 | 2,185 | #133 | 1.1 |
| 1951 | 1,931 | #141 | 1.0 |
| 1950 | 1,757 | #149 | 1.0 |
| 1949 | 1,985 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1948 | 2,269 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1947 | 2,280 | #126 | 1.2 |
| 1946 | 1,972 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1945 | 1,639 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1944 | 1,494 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1943 | 1,455 | #145 | 1.0 |
| 1942 | 1,408 | #145 | 1.0 |
| 1941 | 1,225 | #145 | 1.0 |
| 1940 | 1,233 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1939 | 1,175 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1938 | 1,059 | #153 | 1.0 |
| 1937 | 922 | #160 | 0.86 |
| 1936 | 892 | #160 | 0.86 |
| 1935 | 882 | #162 | 0.85 |
| 1934 | 841 | #168 | 0.81 |
| 1933 | 810 | #171 | 0.82 |
| 1932 | 856 | #170 | 0.82 |
| 1931 | 814 | #170 | 0.78 |
| 1930 | 912 | #163 | 0.83 |
| 1929 | 874 | #165 | 0.81 |
| 1928 | 955 | #160 | 0.86 |
| 1927 | 1,033 | #153 | 0.92 |
| 1926 | 1,012 | #157 | 0.91 |
| 1925 | 977 | #158 | 0.88 |
| 1924 | 1,034 | #156 | 0.91 |
| 1923 | 1,025 | #150 | 0.94 |
| 1922 | 1,146 | #137 | 1.1 |
| 1921 | 1,196 | #134 | 1.1 |
| 1920 | 1,146 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1919 | 1,097 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1918 | 1,163 | #135 | 1.1 |
| 1917 | 1,111 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1916 | 1,054 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1915 | 1,016 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1914 | 733 | #138 | 1.1 |
| 1913 | 508 | #147 | 1.0 |
| 1912 | 394 | #153 | 0.92 |
| 1911 | 207 | #162 | 0.92 |
| 1910 | 212 | #151 | 1.1 |
| 1909 | 155 | #160 | 0.95 |
| 1908 | 142 | #163 | 0.92 |
| 1907 | 139 | #160 | 0.95 |
| 1906 | 96 | #189 | 0.72 |
| 1905 | 86 | #204 | 0.65 |
| 1904 | 87 | #200 | 0.68 |
| 1903 | 78 | #200 | 0.65 |
| 1902 | 74 | #208 | 0.60 |
| 1901 | 62 | #221 | 0.58 |
| 1900 | 101 | #194 | 0.67 |
| 1899 | 42 | #265 | 0.40 |
| 1898 | 51 | #247 | 0.42 |
| 1897 | 54 | #237 | 0.48 |
| 1896 | 56 | #245 | 0.47 |
| 1895 | 43 | #271 | 0.37 |
| 1894 | 48 | #252 | 0.41 |
| 1893 | 42 | #271 | 0.37 |
| 1892 | 47 | #264 | 0.39 |
| 1891 | 53 | #222 | 0.52 |
| 1890 | 39 | #278 | 0.35 |
| 1889 | 45 | #243 | 0.41 |
| 1888 | 57 | #233 | 0.47 |
| 1887 | 40 | #253 | 0.39 |
| 1886 | 29 | #319 | 0.26 |
| 1885 | 33 | #295 | 0.31 |
| 1884 | 41 | #268 | 0.36 |
| 1883 | 32 | #293 | 0.31 |
| 1882 | 46 | #255 | 0.40 |
| 1881 | 36 | #267 | 0.36 |
| 1880 | 42 | #261 | 0.38 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Tony a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 254,483 Americans recorded as Tony, 1% are girls and 99% boys. In 2025 it went to 325 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Tony: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Tony, and how old are they?
184,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 72% of the 254,483 Americans ever recorded as Tony. The median Tony alive today is 57 years old; half are between 42 and 65.
The 2020 Census counted 191,115 people named Tony (2,283 women and girls, 188,832 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 195,202 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 4,470 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 63,500 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 61,400 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 33,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 15,300 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,030 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Tony born?
The states with the most babies named Tony are California, Texas and North Carolina, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 27,991 | #626 | 1.2× |
| Texas | 20,783 | #631 | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 14,304 | #587 | 2.0× |
| Georgia | 12,195 | #622 | 1.8× |
| Illinois | 12,123 | #797 | 0.9× |
| New York | 10,279 | #1,558 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 10,222 | #849 | 0.8× |
| Tennessee | 9,404 | #917 | 1.7× |
| Florida | 8,731 | #701 | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 8,020 | #826 | 0.8× |
Where Tony is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Tony is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 2.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Tony with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 262,364 babies since 1880, Tony is the most given (97% of them). In 2025 it was given to 325 of their 337 babies (96%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Tony
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Tony and names like it
- Compare Tony and ToneyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sTony peaked in 1961.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Tony since 1910.
- The top names of 1961The year the most babies were named Tony.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Tony alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with TMost given first.