Marco
Meaning
of Mars, warlike
The story
Marco is the Italian form of Marcus, one of the most common names of ancient Rome, almost certainly derived from Mars, the god of war, which made it a fitting name for a soldier's son. History softened the martial edge. The most famous Marco of all traveled rather than fought: Marco Polo, the Venetian whose account of twenty years across Asia and the court of Kublai Khan gave Europe its first vivid picture of China and fired the imaginations of explorers for centuries. The name stayed warm and everyday across Italy and the Spanish-speaking world, familiar enough to be shouted across a pool in a children's game. In the United States Marco reads as current as ever, strongest around the 2000s. Brisk, friendly and worldly, it carries a war god and a great traveler in two easy syllables.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Marco peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Popularity in Brazil
192,703 people · the #171 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,054 · median age 45
Among people named Marco living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 2,017 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Marco
Most people given the name Marco in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Marco you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Marco deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Marco truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Marco fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Marco travels
Castilian · dedicated to Mars; a steady modern favorite in Spain
Spanish · dedicated to Mars, warlike
Italian American · warlike (form of Mark); a steady modern favorite
Italian · warlike, of Mars (Italian form of Mark)
Keep exploring
Spanish baby names from Spain · Italian baby names · Italian American baby names · Spanish baby names
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