Demarcus is an American elaboration of Marcus, the Roman name derived from Mars, the god of war, so it is usually read as "dedicated to Mars" or "warlike". The De- prefix, as in DeAndre and DeShawn, became a hallmark of African American naming in the 1970s and 1980s. Demarcus ranked number 622 in 2000, dropped out of the top 1000 in the 2010s and stands at number 2168 in 2025.