Pann was born sometime between 1794 and 1798, in Sliven, Rumelia (in today's Bulgaria). According to some accounts, his mother, Tomaida, was an ethnic Greek, while his father, Pantoleon Petrov, was Bulgarian; it is known that he worked as a coppersmith bucket-maker. There is a commonly held view by Romani community activists, who consider Pann among the most prominent Romani artists. This view is also accepted by some Romanian authors. Various other interpretations state that Pantoleon Petrov, who died during Anton Pann's childhood, was Bulgarian, Aromanian, or Romanian. The writer, who was the youngest of Petrov and Tomaida's three sons, eventually adopted the family name "Pann", as a colloquial contraction of his father's given name.