Marcos
A surname from the given name Marcos, ultimately linked to Mark and the Roman name Marcus.
The #6,688 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,114 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Marcos is a surname built from the personal name Marcos, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Mark. That given name goes back through Latin Marcus to the Roman name associated with Mars, the god of war. In older surname use, it would usually have meant "son of Marcos" or simply identified someone by a father or ancestor named Marcos.
History
The sources point to Marcos as a long-established Iberian surname, with medieval and early modern examples in Spain and Portugal. It also appears in broader European records as a family name derived from the same biblical and classical naming tradition. Because Marcos is also a common given name, the surname may have arisen independently in more than one place.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In medieval naming traditions, Marcos sits in the same large family as Mark, Marcus, and Marco, all tied to the ancient Roman name Marcus.
From the historical record
“Parv. John Marcos, ca Essex, 1273. A. . 1568. Married--John Wright and Alice Marcos : St Jas. Clerkenwell, iii. 4. 1752. Bapt.^Lewis, s. Lewis Marcos:”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)Notable people named Marcos
- Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989)
- Imelda Marcos (b. 1929)
- Bongbong Marcos (b. 1957)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.