Anton
A surname that usually began as a short form of Anthony, though some bearers may descend from local or foreign-name forms.
The #5,129 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,251 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Anton is most often a shortened or variant form of the personal name Anthony, from Latin Antonius. In older surname records it can also reflect continental forms such as German Anton or French Antoine, all ultimately tied to the same classical name family. The deeper origin of Antonius itself is ancient and uncertain, so the surname’s immediate meaning is simply “son of, or connected with, Anthony/Anton.”
History
English records show Anton as an old surname in medieval and early modern periods, and 19th-century surname writers treated it chiefly as a shortened form of Anthony. In some families, especially in Britain and the United States, it may also reflect immigration from German- or French-speaking areas where Anton was a common given name and surname. The name remains relatively uncommon in the U.S. compared with larger surname families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname dictionaries explicitly list Anton as an abbreviation of Anthony rather than as a separate root name.
From the historical record
“ANDRE (Fr.) = Andrew, q.v. in Diet. ANTON (Ger.) for the Lat. Antonius (Eng. Atft(h)ony), f. the , Gr. Antios, Latinized Antius [Gt. dvTlos, conironting] APFEL (Ger.) = Apple, q.v. in Diet. [M.H.Ger. ap/el. O.H.Ger. apful] AREND(T (Dut.) Eagle - [Dut. arend] ARM AND (Fr.) SoLdier, Warrior [f. O.Ger.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)