Making My Mark

A personal essay about my (first) name, and some fun facts surrounding it

Making My Mark

Hello! My name is Mark:

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

No, no, not that Mark. I’m way more handsome 😉.

Seriously though, I have been thinking about my name and its meaning over the last couple of days, inspired by a recent piece by caroline cherry where she took a fun and interesting look at her name, its meaning, and some fun facts surrounding it. I loved the idea, and thought I’d run with it Thanks Caroline!

Origins

The name Mark originates from the Latin Marcus (Martkos), and it is derived from Mars, the Roman God of War. Once I learned this, and its warlike meaning, I made sure to share it with my wife and kids that they needed to respect me because of my “warlike” demeanor which commands respect. They laughed and rolled their eyes at that statement, and quite honestly, so did I because I don’t believe that, but found it fun to pretend for a second that I was a “powerful” force to be reckoned with (I’m not). The name is synonymous with strength, and though I’m not warlike, I’d like to think that I am strong in some of the ways that truly matter.

There is also St. Mark, one of the four gospel writers of the Bible. He is known as the Patron Saint of notaries, lawyers, barristers, captives, prisoners, and pharmacists. He actually has a feast day on April 25th, which is nice to know, because I love to eat, though my feast day is basically any day that I’m upright and alive. I love the fact that my name is Biblical, but what I don’t love is that his cause of death was execution by pagans dragging him through the streets with a rope around his neck repeatedly until his body was completely torn apart. He did die a martyr, which is great and all, at the age of 56 (my age now…oh crap)…now, but imagining that kind of death, no thank you.

There is also a topographic origin, which is far less interesting, but the term mark or marke basically means boundary or borderland. See, boring yawnfest. Moving on.

Popularity

According to huffpost.com , in the year of my birth, decades ago, the ranking of the name Mark in the United States was number 8 for boys. In that year alone, there were over 33,000 boys that were given my name. I always knew I wasn’t special (just kidding BTW, as I am IN FACT, very special indeed). Further, it was a top ten name for that decade. I’M NUMBER 8!!!!

Though it’s not nearly as common in the last decade as it was in those ancient times, it’s still relatively popular, ranking at number 246 in 2024. CHEERS to all those who share a name with me, however you spell it.

Celebrities

As one might think, there are a few notable celebrities, both historical and current that share a name with me. They are listed below:

• Mark Twain, author and actor, born in 1835

• Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Executive. Enough said.

• Mark Wahlberg, Boy Band icon turned Actor

• Mark Ruffalo. Yes, the Hulk.

• Mark Hamill. Luke, you share your real name with me. I’m NOT your father.

• Mark Harmon. Actor, Producer, Director.

• Vin Diesel. So, I literally just learned today that he was born, Mark Sinclair. Useless trivia, but interesting to me anyhow.

Personal Note

So, now you know a little bit more about the origins of my name, some statistics about my name’s popularity, and even some more well-known people with the name, Mark. But, you may be asking yourself, why did his mom name him Mark? Well, I’m here to answer that burning question for you. My uncle’s middle name is Mark, and that’s it. Thrilling, I know. However, my uncle Rick has been an important part of my life. He’s 7 years older than me, was the best man in my wedding, and we grew up in the same household, and really he’s more like a brother to me, and really, probably my best friend, despite how much I used to get him in trouble as a kid.

Additionally, my middle name came from the first name of his lifelong best friend.

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So, now you know, whether you wanted to or not.