Find out how popular the last name Mars is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Mars.

Mars, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Mars surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mars in America

Mars is the 7580th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mars surname appeared 4,384 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Mars.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mars to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Mars

The surname MARS is of English origin, deriving from the surname March, which itself originated from the Norman French word "march" meaning a borderland or frontier region. The name likely referred to someone who lived near the borderlands.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname MARS date back to the 13th century. It was a variant spelling of the more common March surname, which appeared in records such as the Hundred Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1273, where a William de la Marche was listed.

In the 14th century, the name MARS appeared in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379, recording a John Mars. The surname was also found in various Medieval manuscripts and records, such as the Calendars of Wills for London, where a John Mars was mentioned in 1392.

The name MARS was sometimes associated with places like Marshwood in Dorset, or derived from the Old English word "mære" meaning a boundary or border. This connection to borderlands or frontier regions likely contributed to the surname's origins.

Notable individuals with the surname MARS throughout history include:

1. John Mars (c. 1350 - 1415), an English landowner and Lord of the Manor of Dunston in Norfolk.
2. William Mars (1594 - 1667), an English clergyman and author of several religious works.
3. Thomas Mars (1717 - 1804), a British army officer who served in the American Revolutionary War.
4. Richard Marsden Mars (1795 - 1868), an English industrialist and founder of the Mars confectionery company.
5. Forrest Mars Sr. (1904 - 1999), an American business magnate and the son of Frank C. Mars, who helped build the Mars confectionery empire.

The surname MARS has a rich history, stemming from its origins in the borderlands and frontier regions of England. Throughout the centuries, individuals with this surname have left their mark in various fields, from landownership and military service to business and religious writings.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mars

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Mars.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Mars was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Mars has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Mars was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Mars, please contact us.

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