Martin

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Martinho in BR Brazil, Martín in SV El Salvador and Martino in IT Italy.

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 18 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◐

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

• Czech given name2.3M records spelled Martin89 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, Bulgaria, Croatia, United States

  Languages: Czech, Bulgarian, Croatian

  Also written Мартин, Мартын, Мартін, Martyn, Марцін

• French given name1.7M records spelled Martin109 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, France, Spain, United States

  Languages: French, Dutch, Spanish

  Also written Marti, Martinus, Martinos, Martí, Martiñ

• Catalan given name555K records spelled Martin3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Argentina, Andorra

  Also written Martín, Martìn

• a separate given name518K records spelled Martin19 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Marti-N, Mart-In, Martìn, Mártín, Mart́in

• Swahili given name204K records spelled Martin4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, United States, South Africa, Tanzania

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho, Yoruba

  Also written Martín

147 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●

Martin 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 French, From Latin Martinus, 'of Mars', the Roman god of war.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, O Martain; Irish Martins were kinsmen of the O'Neills of Tyrone and a prominent Connacht sept of the 14 Tribes of Galway; attested Giolla Earnain O Martain (d. 1218).

  as a name·Irish family names

• In English, From Latin Martinus, linked to Mars; surname recorded in Scotland from 1386. Gilmartin marks devotion to St Martin.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In French, From Latin Martinus, from Mars. Cited as the dead husband’s name that could become a family surname.

  as a name·Tên Họ Người Việt Nam

• In German, Surname variant showing vowel alternation a~e in the atlas plate; bearer count 21573.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus

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●

• Martin Vb. 1369ITpope of the Catholic Church from 1417 to 1431
• Martin Van Burenb. 1782USpresident of the United States from 1837 to 1841
• Alfred Wernerb. 1866CHnot in their usual nameSwiss chemist Nobel laureate (1866-1919)
• Martin Niemöllerb. 1892DEGerman theologian (1892–1984)
• Martin Ryleb. 1918GBEnglish radio astronomer (1918–1984)
• Stan Leeb. 1922USnot in their usual nameAmerican comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer (1922–2018)
• Martin Lawrenceb. 1965DEAmerican actor and comedian (born 1965)
• Martín Demichelisb. 1980ARArgentine footballer and coach
• Ángel Correab. 1995ARnot in their usual nameArgentine association football player
• Martin Ødegaardb. 1998NONorwegian footballer (born 1998)

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 · 2,616 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Martin?

We estimate roughly 983 thousand people bear Martin (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Martin have the most bearers?

Martin is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled martin.

Where is Martin most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Martin is densest in the Czechia — about 1 in 28 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Martin compared with other names?

In Argentina, Martin is the 18th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Martin a male or female name?

Martin 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 Martin mean?

Recorded meaning: from the personal name Martin, from Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars