Mark is a common male name and is related to the Latin word Mars. It means "consecrated to the god Mars", and also may mean "God of war" or "to be warlike". Marcus was one of the three most common Roman given names. It is also used as a short form of Martin, a name which is either also of Latin origin and also meaning "warlike", or derived from Proto-Germanic elements "mar", meaning "famous" and "tank", meaning "thought", "counsel".

Meaning and history

Mark is a form of the name Marcus. Mark the Evangelist is the traditionally ascribed eponymous author of the second Gospel in the New Testament. He is the patron saint of Venice, where he is supposedly buried. Though in use during the Middle Ages, Mark was not common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when it began to be used alongside the classical form Marcus. In the Celtic legend of Tristan and Isolde, this was the name of a king of Cornwall. It was also borne by the American author Mark Twain (1835–1910, real name Samuel Clemens), the author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He took his pen name from a call used by riverboat workers on the Mississippi River to indicate a depth of two fathoms. This is also the usual English spelling of the name of the 1st-century BC Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).

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