Anthony Caruso

(male) The usual English form of the old Roman family name Antonius, which is of uncertain (probably Etruscan) origin. The spelling with -th- (not normally reflected in the pronunciation) represents a learned but erroneous attempt to associate it with Greek anthos ‘flower’. In the post-classical period it was a common name, borne by various early saints, most notably a 3rd-century Egyptian hermit monk, who is regarded as the founder of Christian monasticism.

Italian: nickname from caruso ‘close-cropped’ (Latin cariosus ‘decayed’, also ‘smooth’, ‘bald’). This word was also used in the more general sense ‘boy’, ‘lad’, since in the Middle Ages young men of fashion sometimes wore their hair much shorter than was the prevailing style. In the Girgenti area of Sicily the term was a metonymic occupational name for a worker in the sulfur pits, since such workers were required to wear their hair short.