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Marcos

#517 in 2025Boys' name

Probably related to Mars

Marcos has been given to 53,742 babies in the U.S. since 1888. In 2025 it ranked #517 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2001, with 1,415 recorded.

Babies named Marcos, 2025

1 in 5,730

Marcos over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05001K1.5K18801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Marcos: meaning, origin, and history

Probably related to Mars

Spanish and Portuguese, from Latin

About Marcos

Marcos is the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcus, an ancient Roman given name probably connected with Mars. Its final s distinguishes it from Marco, while the first syllable carries the stress. The name has a long Christian history and modern bearers in music and tennis.

Meaning and Roman background

Marcus was one of the common Roman given names. Its exact derivation is not certain, but a relationship to Mars, the Roman god, is the usual explanation. Marcos preserves that name in the forms established in Spanish and Portuguese.

The Roman family includes Marcus Tullius Cicero, the statesman and orator, and the emperor Marcus Aurelius. These are bearers of the older Marcus form rather than of the later spelling Marcos.

Mark is the English relative, Marco another Spanish and Portuguese form, and Marquinhos a Portuguese diminutive. The forms share a history despite their different endings.

The Christian name

The name also traveled through the Christian tradition associated with Saint Mark and the second gospel. Christian tradition identifies the evangelist with Mark, although the precise identity of the gospel’s author is uncertain.

That religious history helps explain the name family’s presence across several European languages. Marcos belongs to the same family as Mark without being an English nickname for it.

Pronunciation

Spanish Marcos is MAR-koss, with two syllables and stress on the first. The r is tapped. European Portuguese is closer to MAR-koosh, while Brazilian Portuguese commonly has a different r sound and a final sound closer to koos.

These differences come from established language pronunciations. The final s remains part of the name even when its sound changes with accent.

Marcos Witt

Marcos Witt is a prominent bearer in Spanish-language Christian music. His albums have received repeated recognition from the Latin Recording Academy.

Viviré won Best Christian Album in Spanish in 2022, and Legado won the same category in 2025. Earlier winning albums include Dios Es Bueno in 2006 and Alegría in 2007. The sequence gives Marcos a continuing musical association across different decades rather than a link with only one recording.

Marcos Baghdatis

Tennis player Marcos Baghdatis reached the men’s singles final at the Australian Open in 2006. Roger Federer defeated him in that final.

That appearance placed the name on one of tennis’s largest stages. It also supplies a recognizable sporting connection alongside Witt’s musical career, with the same spelling used in quite different public settings.

Popularity in the United States

Marcos reached its highest annual count in 2001, with 1,415 boys. Its best rank was No. 224 in 1996. In 2000, it stood at No. 239 with 1,407 boys.

The total declined to 1,027 in 2010. In 2025, 579 boys received the name, placing Marcos at No. 517. Marco and Marcus are recorded separately.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning and history draw on the references below. Popularity figures use the local Social Security Administration series for this exact spelling and sex; counts below five are omitted. Existing Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA. Suggested shortenings are identified in the prose.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How popular is Marcos?

In 2025, Marcos ranked #517 among boys in the United States, with 579 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1888; its largest annual count was 1,415 in 2001. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.

How common is Marcos?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 5,730
579 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 2,950
0.03% of boys
Rank, 2025
#517
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
3,970 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Marcos sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1002%
School of 5008%

Put another way: gather 3,970 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Marcos. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Marcoss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Marcos was born before 1998 — so the typical Marcos is around 27 today.

Median birth year
1998
About 27 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
25.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
44.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
51,912
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 25.4% of all recorded uses (13,593).

Is Marcos rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−36
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−37
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−109
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.76×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
40.9%
Peak was 2001 (1,415)
Years since peak
24
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Very steady
5.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#224
1996

Spellings of Marcos

Marcos is not the most common spelling — Carlos is, with 26.9% against Marcos's 4.7%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Marcos is used

Across 2016–2025, Marcos was most concentrated in New Mexico — about 1 in 585 boys, against 1 in 2,384 across all states with data. It was least common in Idaho (1 in 16,667).

6171 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Mexico1 in 585
  2. 2Arizona1 in 1,333
  3. 3Texas1 in 1,351
  4. 4California1 in 1,389
  5. 5Florida1 in 1,786
  6. 6Colorado1 in 1,923
  7. 7Nevada1 in 2,174
  8. 8Washington1 in 2,222

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Marcos is one of the more regionally concentrated names in the country — more concentrated than 89% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Marcos around the world

Where Marcos ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #2,014
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1980–2007
    #595
    in 2007
  • Ireland
    2005–2023
    #770
    in 2023
  • France
    1911–2025
    #5,777
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #2,550
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1964–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Marcos

People whose public names include Marcos, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Marcos in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Marcos. Linked forms have their own page here.

MarcMarkMarcoMarekMarkoMarcusMarkosMarkusMárkMarkkuMárkus

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Marcos by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#517
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 37
Best rank ever
#224
1996
Peak year
2001
1,415 that year
First recorded
1888
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
53,580
Count in 2025
579

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,641
1926
Peak year
1994
13 that year
First recorded
1926
Last recorded
2004
All-time count
162
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Marcos

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

MarionMarlonMarlinMarcelMarcoMartyMarkusMarcusMarquisMarvinMartinMarioMarshallMarceloMarleyMarianoMarkelMarcMartezMarquesMarquezMariusMarshalMarquise

Names with a curve like Marcos

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Marcos, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

GerardoGustavoBrockCesarErickSergioEnriquePabloQuentinOmarJavierJulio

Sibling names for Marcos

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Marcos

Top names of 2001, Marcos's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1996Boys' names starting with MAsturian Boy NamesSpanish Boy Names