Marcus (name)

Marcus is a masculine given name of Ancient Roman pre-Christian origin derived either from Etruscan Marce of unknown meaning or referring to the god Mars. Because Mars was identified as the Roman god of War, the name 'Marcus' can by extension be taken to refer to Ares in the Greek pantheon.

Marcus
Statue of Mars
PronunciationEnglish: /ˈmɑːrkəs/
German: [ˈmaʁkʊs]
Norwegian: [ˈmɑ̀rkʉs]
Swedish: [ˈmǎrːkɵs]
GenderMale
Origin
Meaning"dedicated to Mars"
Region of originAncient Rome
Other names
Related namesMarkus, Markos, Marcas, Margus, Marcellus, Marquis

The name is popular in Europe, particularly in Sweden, Norway,[1] Italy and Germany, and increasingly, in the Netherlands. It is also popular in English language countries, although less common than the shortened variation 'Mark', associated with the Gospel writer Mark the Evangelist (Μάρκος). There are other variants. Marcus ranks in the top 100 most popular boy names in Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales since the 1990s, as well as the top 200 most popular boy names in the US since the 1960s.[2]

Marcus developed as a patronymic or toponymic surname in Italy, southern France, and Spain around 1000 A.D., attributable to religious monasteries and sanctuaries named Sanctus Marcus (or its many variants). The surname was used as an identifier for the area of origin. The first historical record of the surname was in the year 1390 in Biberach an der Riß, Germany.[3]

People with the name Marcus or its variants include:

Given name

Arts and entertainment

In art and literature

In television and film

In music

In fictional characters

  • Marcus, a vampire from the Twilight Saga
  • Marcus Barnes, a fictional character from The Electric Company
  • Marcus Brody, a fictional character from The Last Crusade
  • Marcus Burnett, a fictional police officer from the Bad Boys films
  • Marcus Tullius Cicero (Rome character), a historical figure who features as a character in the HBO/BBC2 television series Rome
  • Marcus Cole, a character in the novel and Netflix series 13 Reasons Why
  • Marcus Cole, fictional character in Babylon 5
  • Marcus Corvinus, the protagonist in David Wishart's historical detective novels. Also the name of a primary antagonist in the Underworld films
  • Marcus Didius Falco, the protagonist in Lindsey Davis Ancient Rome historical mystery fictions
  • Marcus Fenix, the primary protagonist from the Gears of War video game series
  • Marcus Flint, Slytherin House Quidditch Team captain in the Harry Potter series
  • Marcus Johnson, the alias of a Marvel Comics character and son of Nick Fury

Government and military

In Ancient Rome

In politics

Sports

Other

Surname
Marcus
PronunciationMAR-kus
Origin
Meaning"son of Mark"
Other names
Variant form(s)Marchi, De Marchi, De Marco, Di Marco, Marco, Di Marko, Marko, Marcus, Marconi, Marchitello, Marcuzzi, Marchini, Merck, Marck, Van der Marck, Markushkin, Markowicz, Markowitz, Markovich, Marcovitch, Markovic, Markovics, Marcovici, Marczewski, Márquez etc.

Markus

Márkus

References
  1. "10 mest brukte navn 1880–2007 (10 most used boys names 1880–2007)". ssb.no. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  2. "Marcus — Name Meaning and Origin". thinkbabynames. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  3. "Surname: Marcus". surnamedb.com. Retrieved 1 February 2008.

See also
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