Antonela is a Romance feminine form of Anthony, from an old Roman family name.
Antonela is the Southern European and Latin American feminine form of Antonio, which traces back to the ancient Roman gens Antonia — one of the most distinguished families of the Republic and early Empire. The origin of Antonius itself is debated; it may be Etruscan or Oscan rather than Latin, giving the name a pre-Roman mystique. The family produced the general and triumvir Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius), whose alliance and love affair with Cleopatra became one of history's most dramatic stories, immortalized by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra.
The feminine forms Antonia, Antonella, and Antonela spread widely across Catholic Europe following the veneration of St. Anthony of Padua, the thirteenth-century Franciscan friar beloved for his eloquence and miracles. The spelling Antonela, without the doubled L, is favored particularly in Argentina, Croatia, and other parts of the Spanish-speaking and Slavic worlds, where it has a refined but approachable feel.
In the twenty-first century the name gained global recognition through Antonela Roccuzzo, the Argentine philanthropist and wife of footballer Lionel Messi. Her quiet elegance and devoted public image gave the name a modern archetype. Antonela now reads as both classically European and warmly contemporary — a name of empires softened into something personal.