Markis
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "warlike" or "warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 883 living Americans carry the first name Markis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Markis today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Markis births was 1990 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Markis. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
883
~ 1 in 388,170 Americans
Peak year
1990
37 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2022 SSA rank
#8,097
Tracked since 1970
Popularity
Markis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Markis from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 294 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Markis by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Markis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Markis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Illinois, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Markis, while New York, North Carolina, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Markis
The name Markis is a variant of the Latin name Marcus, which was derived from the Roman god of war, Mars. The name Marcus was one of the most common praenomina (personal names) in ancient Rome, and it was often given to boys born in the month of March, which was named after the god Mars.
Marcus was a popular name among Roman aristocratic families, and it was borne by several prominent historical figures, such as Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), the famous orator and statesman, and Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), the philosopher emperor. The name Marcus also appears in the New Testament, where it is mentioned as the surname of John Mark, a companion of the apostles Paul and Barnabas.
The variant spelling Markis likely emerged during the Middle Ages, when the name was adapted and modified by various cultures and languages. It is possible that the spelling Markis was influenced by Germanic or Slavic languages, as the letter "k" was more commonly used in these languages than in Latin.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Markis can be found in the writings of the 12th-century English historian, William of Malmesbury, who mentions a nobleman named Markis de Buckland. Another early bearer of the name was Markis of Anweiler, a German knight who participated in the Seventh Crusade in the 13th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Markis, including Markis di Napoli (1495-1568), an Italian painter and architect of the Renaissance period, and Markis von Württemberg (1584-1623), a German prince and military commander during the Thirty Years' War. In the 19th century, Markis Twain (1835-1910) was the pen name of the famous American author and humorist, Samuel Langhorne Clemens.
People
Markis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Markis as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Markis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Markis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 883 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Markis going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 388,170 US residents.
Is Markis a common name?
We classify Markis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 904 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Markis most popular?
The single biggest year for Markis was 1990, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Markis is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Markis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Markis in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.