Marcus (name)

Marcus

The god Mars
Pronunciation /ˈmɑːrkəs/
German pronunciation: [ˈmaʁkʊs]
Norwegian pronunciation: [mɑrkʉs]
Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmarkɵs]
Gender Male
Name day April 25
Origin
Meaning "dedicated to Mars"
Region of origin Ancient Rome
Other names
Related names Markus, Markos, Marcas, Marcellus, Marquis

Marcus is a masculine given name of Ancient Roman pre-Christian origin derived either from Etruscan Marce of unknown meaning (possibly from the Etruscan "mar" which means "to harvest"), 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.

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 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

Government and military

In Ancient Rome

In politics

Sports

Other

Surname

Marcus
Family name
Pronunciation MAR-kus
Meaning "son of Mark"
Related names 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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.