Head to head · Boys' names
Anthony vs Asher
#46 vs #28 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Asher is a whisker ahead (#28 vs #46 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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
On the charts, Asher leads 3 measures of 6; Anthony leads 2.
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: Anthony #95, Asher #801 — Anthony higher
- 1890s: Anthony #79, Asher #986 — Anthony higher
- 1900s: Anthony #51, Asher — — Anthony higher
- 1910s: Anthony #38, Asher #1871 — Anthony higher
- 1920s: Anthony #41, Asher #2147 — Anthony higher
- 1930s: Anthony #47, Asher #2337 — Anthony higher
- 1940s: Anthony #43, Asher #2436 — Anthony higher
- 1950s: Anthony #31, Asher #2685 — Anthony higher
- 1960s: Anthony #22, Asher #2483 — Anthony higher
- 1970s: Anthony #21, Asher #1748 — Anthony higher
- 1980s: Anthony #20, Asher #1061 — Anthony higher
- 1990s: Anthony #18, Asher #867 — Anthony higher
- 2000s: Anthony #10, Asher #348 — Anthony higher
- 2010s: Anthony #24, Asher #86 — Anthony higher
- 2020s: Anthony #44, Asher #25 — Asher higher
Anthony stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Asher took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Anthony | Asher |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #95 | #801 |
| 1890s | #79 | #986 |
| 1900s | #51 | — |
| 1910s | #38 | #1871 |
| 1920s | #41 | #2147 |
| 1930s | #47 | #2337 |
| 1940s | #43 | #2436 |
| 1950s | #31 | #2685 |
| 1960s | #22 | #2483 |
| 1970s | #21 | #1748 |
| 1980s | #20 | #1061 |
| 1990s | #18 | #867 |
| 2000s | #10 | #348 |
| 2010s | #24 | #86 |
| 2020s | #44 | #25 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Anthony
- Canada#89
Asher
- Canada#47
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Anthony
No established meaning; the Roman name behind it has never been decoded
Anthony descends from the Latin family name Antonius, borne by the gens Antonia of Rome. Its origin is generally thought to be Etruscan rather than Latin, and Etruscan is only partly understood, so no meaning can be given. The popular gloss 'priceless' or 'flower' comes from the inserted h and a mistaken link to Greek anthos, 'flower' — an error in etymology, though a very old and well-loved one.
Antonius → Antony → Anthony
How it traveled
The name begins as a Roman clan name, Antonius, carried most famously by Marcus Antonius in the last century of the Republic. Christianity gave it a second life: Anthony the Great, the Egyptian hermit of the third and fourth centuries, and Anthony of Padua, the thirteenth-century Franciscan preacher, made it one of the standard baptismal names of Catholic Europe.
Asher
Happy, blessed, fortunate
From the Hebrew root associated with happiness and good fortune. Genesis ties the name to Leah's exclamation at the child's birth, a play on the same root.
Asher (Hebrew) → Aser (Greek Septuagint) → Aser (Latin Vulgate) → Osher (Yiddish) → Asher (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew, אָשֵׁר, and belongs first to the eighth son of Jacob in Genesis and then to the tribe descended from him, settled in the north of ancient Israel. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it became Aser, and Latin Bibles kept that form; the Hebrew spelling is what English took up directly.
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
Anthony
AN-thuh-nee
Standard in the United States. In Britain and Australia the h is often silent — AN-tuh-nee — and both are correct for the same spelling, so expect to state your preference occasionally.
- Tony — The default short form for centuries, and long established as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Ant — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates; more common in British and Australian usage.
- Tone — Casual, affectionate, used within families and close circles rather than in introductions.
- Anth — Informal written shorthand, common in texts and among younger speakers.
Asher
ASH-er
Stress on the first syllable in English. In Hebrew the stress falls on the second: ah-SHER.
- Ash — The standard short form, informal, and also used on its own as a given name in English.
- Ashy — A family diminutive, used with small children rather than adults.
- Osher — Not a nickname but the Yiddish form of the same name, used as a full given name in Jewish communities.
Who has carried each name
Anthony
Anthony Hopkins (b. 1937) — Two-time Oscar winner, unforgettable as Hannibal Lecter
Anthony Bourdain (b. 1956) — The chef who took America around the world
Asher
Asher Angel (b. 2002) — Shazam!'s young Billy Batson
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 Anthony if you want…
- a name fewer children share#46 in 2025 — anthony will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with more sound in itAnthony runs 3 syllables, Asher 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Asher
Choose Asher if you want…
- a name most people already know#28 in 2025, 7,456 babies that year
- a name with fewer syllablesAsher is 2 syllables to Anthony's 3
- a name that feels very nowAsher is holding its place on the charts
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
Anthony
Strengths
- An unbroken record in English since the Middle Ages, and used steadily by every generation since American records began.
- Tony is a ready-made short form that needs no explaining, and works from playground to boardroom.
- Recognizable across languages: Antonio, Antoine, Anton and Antoni are all the same name to relatives abroad.
To consider
- The h is silent for many speakers and not for others, so the name has two accepted pronunciations and your child may correct people occasionally.
- Antony, without the h, is the older spelling and still in use — some people will default to it in writing.
- Tony will arrive whether you invite it or not. If you want the full three syllables used, say so early and often.
Asher
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds. Most people get it right on the first try, reading or hearing it.
- One established short form, Ash, which needs no explanation and works at any age.
- A documented history stretching back to the Hebrew scriptures, with an unbroken written record through Greek, Latin and English Bibles.
To consider
- The great majority of Ashers alive are children. It reads as a name of the present moment rather than one handed down, which may or may not be what you want.
- It sits in a crowded sound-space with Ashton, Asa, Ashley and the surname-name Usher, so expect the occasional mishearing over the phone.
- Ash carries its own associations for some people — Ash Wednesday, a well-known cartoon character — none of them unkind, but worth knowing they exist.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Anthony
12%chance Anthony feels dated by 2040
Anthony has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Asher
40%chance Asher feels dated by 2040
Asher sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Anthony and Asher 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 Anthony and Asher?
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
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Anthony and Asher — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Anthony or Asher — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Anthony or Asher?
- Asher, in 2025: Asher ranked #28 with 7,456 babies; Anthony ranked #46 with 5,967 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Anthony or Asher?
- Asher. Over the last five years Anthony moved down 5 places; Asher moved up 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Anthony or Asher?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Anthony and Asher?
- About 1,218,000 people named Anthony are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 110,000 people named Asher are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Anthonys or Ashers in the classroom?
- Anthony will almost certainly be the only one in school. Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Asher.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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