Antwane
Short form of the English name Antwan, a variation of Antoine of Old French origin meaning "highly praiseworthy".
Name Census estimates that about 844 living Americans carry the first name Antwane. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Antwane today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Antwane births was 1990 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Antwane. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
844
~ 1 in 406,107 Americans
Peak year
1990
38 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,004
Tracked since 1969
Popularity
Antwane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Antwane from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 281 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Antwane by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Antwane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Antwanes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Antwane, while South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Antwane
The given name Antwane is a modern variation of the French name Antoine, which has its origins in the ancient Roman name Antonius. The name Antonius is derived from the Roman family name Antonii, which is believed to have Etruscan roots.
Antonius was a popular name among the Roman nobility, and several notable historical figures bore this name, including the Roman general and statesman Marcus Antonius, who lived from 83 BC to 30 BC. Another famous bearer of the name was the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled from 138 AD to 161 AD.
The name Antoine gained popularity in France during the Middle Ages and was particularly common among the French aristocracy. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Antoine de Bourgogne, a 14th-century French nobleman who was the Count of Rethel and Ligny.
In the 16th century, Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre and father of King Henry IV of France, was a prominent figure in French history. Another notable bearer of the name was Antoine Watteau, the famous French painter who lived from 1684 to 1721 and was a leading figure in the Rococo art movement.
As the name spread beyond France, it underwent various spellings and adaptations in different languages and cultures. The spelling Antwane is an English variation that likely emerged in the 20th century as a result of the influence of African American culture on naming traditions.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Antwane in the United States is Antwane Pettway, an American football player who was born in 1981 and played in the National Football League (NFL) for several teams, including the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants.
Other notable individuals with the name Antwane include Antwane Sanderson, an American basketball player who was born in 1982 and played professionally in various leagues around the world, and Antwane Giddens, an American football player who was born in 1983 and played in the NFL for teams like the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns.
People
Antwane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Antwane as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Antwane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Antwane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 844 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Antwane going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 406,107 US residents.
Is Antwane a common name?
We classify Antwane as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 880 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Antwane most popular?
The single biggest year for Antwane was 1990, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Antwane is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Antwane a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Antwane in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.