Tony Abbott: Hello, my name is Tony Abbott. Abbott is a very old name that means father, and I am a father of two daughters. Tony is not my true first name but comes from Anthony, the confirmation name I took when I was twelve. In the ceremony of confirmation, a child chooses the name of a saint, and it becomes a sort of middle name. Anthony Abbott is the name of a famous third century saint who lived many years in the desert of Egypt as a hermit, which is what I sometimes think I would like to be. The reason I chose Tony over my real first name is that when I went to college, three of my friends all had that name. I switched to Tony to be different, and I've been using it ever since.