Marquis is the French title of nobility, from the Old French marchis, "lord of the borderlands", the noble who guarded a frontier march. As a first name it has been popular in African American families since the 1970s, often pronounced mar-KEES. Marquis ranked number 422 in the United States in 2000, left the top 1000 in 2017 and stands at number 1672 in 2025 with 99 boys.