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).
In other languages
Academics Mark Adler (born 1959), American software engineer Mark Azadovsky (1888–1954), Russian scholar of folktales and Russian literature Mark Benecke (born 1970), German forensic biologist Mark Blaug (1927–2011), Dutch-born British economist Mark Boslough, American physicist, Mark Buchanan (born 1961), American physicist Mark Catesby (1682–1749), English naturalist Mark Wayne Chase (born 1951), American-born British botanist Mark R. Cohen (born 1943), American scholar of Jewish history Mark Dean (computer scientist) (born 1957), American inventor and a computer engineer Mark Fettes (born 1961), Canadian Esperantist Mark Fisher (theorist) (1968–2017), British cultural theorist and philosopher Mark Frigo, American economist Mark Z. Jacobson (born 1965), American civil and environmental engineer Mark Jerrum (born 1955), British computer scientist and computational theorist Mark Lilla (born 1956), American political scientist and philosopher Mark van Loosdrecht (born 1959), Dutch biotechnologist Mark Mazower (born 1958), British historian Mark P. McCahill (born 1956), American computer scientist and internet pioneer Mark Borisovich Mitin (1901–1987), Soviet Marxist-Leninist philosopher Mark Oliphant (1901–2000), Australian physicist and humanitarian Mark Overmars (born 1958), Dutch computer scientist, creator of Game Maker Mark Pattison (academic) (1813–1884), English educational reformer and Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford Mark Ptashne (born 1940), American molecular biologist Mark Ridley (zoologist) (born 1956), British zoologist and writer on evolution Mark Satin (born 1946), American political theorist Mark Sedgwick (born 1960), British historian Mark R. Showalter (born 1957), American astronomer Mark Solonin (born 1958), Russian WWII historian Mark Steedman (born 1946), British computational linguist and cognitive scientist Mark van Vugt (born 1967), Dutch evolutionary psychologist Mark Waer (born 1951), Belgian biomedical scientist and university president Mark Wainberg (1945–2017), Canadian HIV/AIDS researcher and activist Mark Walport (born 1953), British medical scientist Mark Weiser (1952–1999), American chief scientist at Xerox PARC Mark Zborowski (1908–1990), American anthropologist and Soviet spy
Acting Mark Addy, English actor Mark Atkinson, American actor Mark Benton, English actor Mark Burg (born 1959), American film and television producer Mark Consuelos, American actor Mark Dexter, English actor Mark Eden, English actor Mark Famiglietti, American actor and screenwriter Mark Fischbach, American YouTuber, podcaster and actor Mark Hamill, American actor Mark Harmon, American actor, producer and director Mark Herras, Filipino actor Mark Gatiss, English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and director Mark Indelicato, American actor Mark Lamarr, English actor and screenwriter Mark LaMura (1948–2017), American actor Mark Lenard, American actor Mark Linn-Baker, American actor Mark McKinney (born 1959), Canadian actor and comedian Mark McManus (1935–1994), Scottish actor Mark Miller (1924–2022), American stage and television actor and writer Mark Pellegrino, American actor, best known as Jacob in Lost Mark Proksch, American actor and impersonator, known for On Cinema and What We Do in the Shadows Mark Rendall, voice actor and actor Mark Robson (film director) (1913–1978), American film director Mark Rosenblatt, British director and writer Mark Ruffalo, American actor Mark Rylance, English actor Mark Salling (1982–2018), American actor who was best known for playing Noah Puckerman on Glee Mark Samaranayake (1914–2000), Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema and stage actor Mark Seibert, German musical theatre actor Mark A. Sheppard, actor best known as Crowley on Supernatural Mark Allen Shepherd, actor Marc Singer, American actor known for his role as Beastmaster and starring in the mini-series V Mark Strickson, English actor Mark Sinclair (better known as Vin Diesel), American actor, writer, director and producer Mark Wahlberg (born 1971), actor, previously known as musician Marky Mark Mark Williams (actor), British actor, comedian and scriptwriter Mark Womack (British actor) (born 1960) Mark Zakharov, Russian director and screenwriter
Arts Mark Heyes, British fashion presenter Mark Kermode, film critic Mark Kostabi, Estonian-American artist Mark Rothko, abstract-expressionist painter Mark Ryden, pop-surrealist painter Mark Samuels, choreographer, and dancer Mark Steel, British satirical comedian Mark Tobey, American abstract expressionist painter Mark Tompkins (dancer), artist, dancer and choreographer of contemporary dance Mark Tremonti, American musician and singer, in rock bands Alter Bridge, Tremonti and founding member of Creed
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