Mark

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Marco in MX Mexico, PE Peru, IT Italy and 4 more, Marcos in BR Brazil, AR Argentina, ES Spain and 1 more, Markus in DE Germany, AT Austria, CH Switzerland and Marek in PL Poland, CZ Czechia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Mark is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Hungarian given name560K records spelled Mark11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, United States, Slovenia

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Marcus, Märk, Márk, Màrk, Ḿark

• a separate given name353K records spelled Mark5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Márk, Märk, Marḳ, Mārk

• Indonesian given name131K records spelled Mark7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, Philippines, United Kingdom

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written Måřķ, Màrk, Márk, Mařķ

• a separate given name75K records spelled Mark14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Philippines, Canada

  Also written Mårk, Mãřk, Måřķ, Märk, Màrk

• Thai given name47K records spelled Mark107 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, United States, Philippines, United Kingdom

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written Marc, หมาก, มาร์ค, มาก, Mak

91 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Mark is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, (1) from the personal name Mark/Latin Marcus; first attested Rogerus filius Markes 1207 Cur (Ha). (2) from Marck, Pas-de-Calais; first attested Adelolfus de Merc 1086 DB (Ess). (3) 'dweller by the boundary', OE mearc; first attested Simon del Merc 1208 Cur (Ess)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In Irish, Possibly from Mars; meaning uncertain. International name; modern use in Ireland.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In German, from Marcus; also from mark- 'boundary, march' in place names and surnames

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, from ahd. marka 'boundary'; mixed with marh 'horse'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In English, from Latin Marcus; related to Mars, the Roman god of war

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Mark Rothkob. 1903USAmerican painter of Latvian-Jewish descent (1903–1970)
• Mark Hamillb. 1951USAmerican actor (born 1951)
• Mark Dindalb. 1960USAmerican effects animator and film director (born 1960)
• Baz Luhrmannb. 1962AUnot in their usual nameAustralian writer, director, and producer (born 1962)
• Mark Carneyb. 1965CA24th prime minister of Canada since 2025
• Vin Dieselb. 1967USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (born 1967)
• Lawrence Mark "Larry" Sangerb. 1968USAmerican former professor, co-founder of Wikipedia, founder of Citizendium and other projects (born 1968)
• Mark Wahlbergb. 1971USAmerican actor (born 1971)
• Mark Shuttleworthb. 1973ZASouth African entrepreneur; second self-funded visitor to the International Space Station
• Wayne Rooneyb. 1985GBnot in their usual nameEnglish footballer and manager

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,854 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Mark?

We estimate roughly 3.2 million people bear Mark (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Mark have the most bearers?

Mark is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled mark.

Where is Mark most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Mark is densest in Croatia — about 1 in 84 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Mark compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Mark is the 13th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Mark a male or female name?

Mark is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Mark mean?

Recorded meaning: from Latin Marcus, perhaps connected with Mars; also person who lives in a border area; or anglicization of similar-sounding Jewish names