Head to head · Boys' names
Ace vs Antonio
#164 vs #176 in 2025
Ace is a whisker ahead (#164 vs #176 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ace is climbing the charts fast, Antonio is holding its place on the charts.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Ace and Antonio each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Ace #725, Antonio #302 — Antonio higher
- 1890s: Ace #871, Antonio #309 — Antonio higher
- 1900s: Ace #991, Antonio #209 — Antonio higher
- 1910s: Ace #1563, Antonio #203 — Antonio higher
- 1920s: Ace #1815, Antonio #194 — Antonio higher
- 1930s: Ace #1725, Antonio #231 — Antonio higher
- 1940s: Ace #1605, Antonio #245 — Antonio higher
- 1950s: Ace #1891, Antonio #208 — Antonio higher
- 1960s: Ace #2225, Antonio #162 — Antonio higher
- 1970s: Ace #2142, Antonio #88 — Antonio higher
- 1980s: Ace #1840, Antonio #75 — Antonio higher
- 1990s: Ace #2203, Antonio #82 — Antonio higher
- 2000s: Ace #1344, Antonio #93 — Antonio higher
- 2010s: Ace #411, Antonio #141 — Antonio higher
- 2020s: Ace #166, Antonio #178 — Ace higher
Antonio stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Ace took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ace | Antonio |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #725 | #302 |
| 1890s | #871 | #309 |
| 1900s | #991 | #209 |
| 1910s | #1563 | #203 |
| 1920s | #1815 | #194 |
| 1930s | #1725 | #231 |
| 1940s | #1605 | #245 |
| 1950s | #1891 | #208 |
| 1960s | #2225 | #162 |
| 1970s | #2142 | #88 |
| 1980s | #1840 | #75 |
| 1990s | #2203 | #82 |
| 2000s | #1344 | #93 |
| 2010s | #411 | #141 |
| 2020s | #166 | #178 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Ace
the one on dice or cards; by extension, an expert
The English word comes through Old French from Latin 'as', a Roman coin and unit of one. A separate, much older road exists: Ace also appears as a medieval English given name of Norman origin, unrelated to the card sense.
as (Latin) → as (Old French) → ace (Middle English) → Ace
How it traveled
The word traveled from Latin 'as' — a single unit, a small Roman coin — into Old French as 'as', the one-spot on a die, and from there into Middle English. In card play its fortunes reversed: the lowest card came to outrank the king in game after game, which is roughly how 'ace' picked up its second life as a word for the best of something.
Antonio
Not established
The Roman family name at the root has no established meaning and is generally thought to be Etruscan, which puts it beyond the reach of the usual tools. The flower gloss frequently offered is a Renaissance invention.
Antonius → Antonio
How it traveled
One of the composers who carried it wrote several hundred concertos, ran a music school for orphaned girls in Venice for most of his working life, was ordained a priest and stopped saying mass within a year, and died in Vienna owing money and was buried in a hospital ground with no marker. His music went out of print and stayed out for two centuries.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Ace
AYSS
One syllable, rhyming with face. No regional variation to worry about, and almost no one needs to hear it twice.
- Acey — Informal extension used by family and friends; not a formal alternative.
- Ace — Also works the other way round — Ace has long served as an informal nickname for boys and men whose names begin with A, or whose initials spell it out.
Antonio
an-TOH-nee-oh
Four syllables with the stress on the second. Spanish and Italian agree on the placement, which makes the name unusually stable across languages.
- Tony — The dominant short form in English and completely established.
- Toño — The standard Spanish affectionate form; warm and used well into adulthood.
- Nino — The Italian affectionate form; light and rather different in register.
Who has carried each name
Ace
No documented entry for Ace yet.
Antonio
Antonio Vivaldi (b. 1678) — Composed The Four Seasons
Antonio Salieri (b. 1750) — Composer remembered as Mozart's great rival
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Ace if you want…
- a name most people already know#164 in 2025, 2,239 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 35 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAce is 1 syllable to Antonio's 4
- a newer arrivalAce entered the US charts in 1882
Choose Antonio if you want…
- a name fewer children share#176 in 2025 — antonio will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyAntonio is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAntonio runs 4 syllables, Ace 1
- a long American recordAntonio was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Ace
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, spelled the way it sounds — rarely misheard, rarely misspelled, easy for a child to write early.
- A word already known to every English speaker, so it needs no explanation and no correction over the phone.
- Pairs cleanly with long or multi-syllable surnames, where a short first name carries well.
To consider
- It is a word before it is a name, and the word means 'the best'. Expect the pun — in sports, in report cards, in first introductions — for a lifetime. Some families like that; some find it a lot to hand over.
- There is no longer form to fall back on. A child who wants something more formal for a résumé or a signature has nowhere to retreat.
- Among younger people, 'ace' also circulates as shorthand for asexual, a meaning worth knowing about even though it rarely causes confusion with a name.
Antonio
Strengths
- It is recognized instantly across southern Europe and the Americas.
- It has established short forms in three languages.
- The spelling and the sound agree completely in all of them.
To consider
- No meaning can be given, because the Roman root has none that survives.
- It is common enough that a child may not be the only one nearby.
- The record holds girls as well, and the girl is much the smaller side.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Ace
49%chance Ace feels dated by 2040
Ace is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Antonio
25%chance Antonio feels dated by 2040
Antonio peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Ace and Antonio in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Ace and Antonio?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Ace and Antonio — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ace or Antonio — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ace or Antonio?
- Ace, in 2025: Ace ranked #164 with 2,239 babies; Antonio ranked #176 with 2,058 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ace or Antonio?
- Ace. Over the last five years Ace moved up 35 places; Antonio moved up 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Ace or Antonio?
- Ace entered the US charts in 1882; Antonio was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Antonio is the older name.
- How many people are named Ace and Antonio?
- About 25,500 people named Ace are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 229,000 people named Antonio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Aces or Antonios in the classroom?
- Ace will almost certainly be the only one in school. Antonio will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Ace, Antonio and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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