Marqus
Masculine · “of Mars”
Marqus is one of the oldest Roman names in the book, respelled with a letter Latin never used for it. The q is the whole innovation, and it changes nothing that can be heard — which is a fair description of most modern respellings, and no reason to dismiss them.
How old is the name Marqus?
Marqus first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Marqus alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 900 people named Marqus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marqus most popular?
Marqus peaked in 1983, reaching #1490 nationally. See the whole 1983 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mars, the Roman god of war, supplies the personal name Marcus to Marqus
The story of Marqus
The most famous Marcus of the later Middle Ages was a Venetian who came home from Asia with a story nobody believed. Marco Polo dictated his account of twenty-four years in the east while in a Genoese prison, and it circulated in dozens of manuscript versions across Europe. His neighbors in Venice called him Il Milione — the million — and the nickname has two rival explanations that have never been settled: that it came from a family byname, or that Venetians thought he dealt in millions of exaggerations. Educated readers treated the book as a romance for two centuries. Then navigators started checking it against the world and finding it broadly right, and one heavily annotated copy went to sea with Columbus. A man remembered for lying turned out to have been reporting.
Meaning
of Mars
Marcus was one of the small number of personal names Roman men actually used, and it was formed from the name of the god of war. It is among the best-attested names in the ancient world: emperors, generals, evangelists and slaves carried it, and its derivation has never seriously been in question. The spelling on this page keeps every sound of it and changes only how the middle consonant is written.
How the name formed
- Mars, the Roman god of war, supplies the personal name Marcus
- The name spreads through Latin Europe and the Christian church
- Marco Polo dictates his account of Asia and is disbelieved
- English uses Mark; American parents respell Marcus with a q
Related forms: Marcus · Marco · Mark · Marcos · Marcos
Pronouncing Marqus
MAR-kus
Two syllables with the stress on the first. The q here is doing the job of a c or a k and nothing more; the name is said exactly as the standard spelling is said, and no one hearing it would guess the letter.
Nicknames for Marqus
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1974
- Most boys named
- 198341 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1490reached in 1983
- Change vs 2021
- +80.0%9 in 2023, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Marqus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marcus in Latin — same name
- Marco in Italian — related form
- Mark in English — related form
- Marcos in Spanish — related form
- Marcos in Portuguese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Marquss among us
people named Marqus are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Marqus sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- One of the most durable names in European history, with a plain and agreed meaning
- The spelling is distinctive on paper while the sound is entirely familiar
- A short form that is itself a complete and universally understood name
- The q will be written as a c or a k by nearly everyone taking the name down from hearing it.
- In English a q almost always leads to a u, so readers hesitate for a beat before the name resolves.
- This spelling is modern and undocumented in older records, so the name's history belongs to the standard form.
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What they receive
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Marqus
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Marquss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Marqus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marqus in 2025?
- Marqus is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Marqus with classmates?
- Marqus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marqus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marqus and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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