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Maria

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A classic

Maria has a large religious load. But it does have a decent nickname - Ria
Antonia is longer and more exotic. But it doesn't have any decent nicknames - Ann, Toni, or Tonia

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Personally, I would choose Maria because of Ria

Maria

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I just prefer the sound of it more.

I like them both. My MIL's mn was Maria, but we chose to use Mary as a mn to honour her, because it worked better with our daughter's other names. Maria seems to carry a heavier religious load than Mary, for some reason.

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Antonia is lovely and I value its classical origin; I suppose Toni is all right as a nn, but I greatly prefer Antonia so it would be safer in the mn position where no nn would be needed.

I love Antonia. It feels elegant, warm,and rich all at once. It has a very rounded warm sound and I love that.

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Maria just doesn't do it for me as much. It reminds me of an overbearing grandmother stereotype in spite of knowing several young Marias. It's a fine name. Nice and classic, but just not as exciting as other things out there.

I would say Antonia. It might be long, but it’s less common and you can always shorten it to Toni.

Antonia

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I'd go with Antonia, for both the nickname Toni as well as the fact that Antonia isn't very common in general.

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Maria, on the other hand, is one of the most ubiquitous feminine names out there. I've actually met more Marias in my life than Marys, no joke.