The male name that's gone out of fashion

BarcelonaThe peak in the number of children named Antoni occurred during the 1960s. Since then, its popularity has plummeted, with fewer and fewer families choosing this name. In fact, only 28 children born between 2020 and 2023 bear this name. According to Francesc Calafell, a researcher at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), this decline can be seen as part of "the natural cycle of names." "This has always happened; names have their cycles, but while the cycle used to last for centuries, now we're talking about decades," says Calafell. He adds that if a name becomes "associated with grandparents—with the exception of people who specifically choose it—it doesn't usually become trendy." However, the average age of those named Antonis is 50.7 years, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

However, it should be noted that the Castilian form, Antonio, is the most common name in Catalonia. Ten out of every thousand people in the population use that name, while only 2.46 out of every thousand use Antonio. "Many have semi-Catalanized it and pronounce it as such." Antoniu, as is also done with Carlus"There are also those who call themselves Toni and families who choose the variant Anton. The Antonios They are somewhat older, and the average age of men with this name is 58.3 years. It is most common in Andalusia, Extremadura, and Castilla-La Mancha. Antoni, however, is also a name frequently used to create compound names such as José Antonio, Juan Antonio, Marco Antonio, Antonio María, or Antonio José, among many other combinations. The most common is Josep Antoni. In Catalonia, there are 1,257 men with this name, a quarter of whom were also born in the 1960s.

By region, the Lleida province has the highest percentage of Antonis, followed closely by the Balearic Islands. In fact, the two districts with the highest prevalence are in Lleida: Urgell (12.1 per thousand) and Solsonès (10.8 per thousand), with Lluçanès having the third highest (7.99 per thousand). Conversely, it is in the Girona province where it is least noticeable.

Antonio, of Latin origin, is a very universal name that, with slight spelling variations, can be found in many languages, such as Italian and Portuguese. Its feast day is celebrated on June 13th (Saint Anthony of Padua) and January 17th (Saint Anthony the Abbot). The feminine form of the name is Antònia (without an accent in Spanish), and it is more common than Antonio but less so than Antonio. According to the INE (Spanish National Statistics Institute), the average age of women with this name is 67.7 years.