Mark
Meaning
warlike; dedicated to Mars
Goes by Marky
Famously borne by Mark McMorris, the most decorated athlete in Winter X Games history.
The story
Mark is the English form of the ancient Roman Marcus, and it arrived carrying a gospel: Saint Mark wrote the second book of the New Testament, and Venice claimed him as patron and holds that he rests there. For all that pedigree, English speakers mostly passed the name by; it was not common in the English-speaking world until the nineteenth century. Its most famous American bearer picked it up from the river: Samuel Clemens took his pen name from the Mississippi leadsman's cry of mark twain, two fathoms down, water deep enough for a steamboat to pass safely. The name itself found deep water a century later, rising after the 1930s to a broad crest in the 1960s and 70s before easing back. Safe passage, in four letters.
Mark around the world
One shared root links 19 names across 8 languages.
Shared root: from Latin Marcus, a Roman praenomen traditionally derived from Mars, the war god; Marcellus is its diminutive
The constellation
12 more branches of this family
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Mark peaked in the 1960s and the 1970s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,593 people · the #6,012 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 125,000 · median age 35
Among people named Mark living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 70 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Mark
People given the name Mark in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Mark deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Mark 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 Mark fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Mark · Filipino American baby names · Pen names and the names writers chose · Action sports names · Short names
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