Marcus is a Roman praenomen usually derived from Mars, the god of war, and so means "dedicated to Mars" or "warlike". The emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius and the orator Marcus Tullius Cicero are its most famous ancient bearers, and civil rights leader Marcus Garvey carried it in the 20th century. Marcus stood at number 99 in the United States in 2000 and has eased down since to number 258 among boys' names in 2025.