Mark is the English form of the Latin Marcus, a name usually derived from Mars, the Roman god of war, and so read as "dedicated to Mars" or "warlike". Saint Mark the Evangelist, author of the second Gospel, gave it to Christians everywhere, and Mark Twain gave it to American literature. In the United States Mark was a top 10 name in the 1960s; it was number 79 in 2000 and ranks number 245 among boys' names in 2025.