Martin (name)

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Martin

Statue of Mars, 1st century, found in the Forum of Nerva (Capitoline Museums, Rome)
Pronunciation	English: /ˈmɑːrtɪn, -tən/ Czech: [ˈmartɪn] Finnish: [ˈmɑrtin] French: [maʁtɛ̃] German: [ˈmaʁtiːn] Norwegian: [ˈmɑ̀ʈːɪn] Serbo-Croatian: [mǎrtin] Spanish: [maɾˈtin] Swedish: [ˈmǎʈːɪn]
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Latin
Meaning	Of Mars, warlike, warrior or famous counsel
Region of origin	Roman Empire
Other names
Related names	Martyn, Martti, Morten, Marten, Maarten, Martijn, Martino, Mārtiņš, Mark (can also be used as a nickname)

Martin may either be a given name or surname. In Scotland, Martin or McMartin is a common surname of Scottish Gaelic origin. Martin is, however, more common as a masculine given name in many languages and cultures. It comes from the Latin name Martinus, which is a late derived form of the name of the Roman god Mars, protective godhead of the Latins and, therefore, god of war.^[1] The meaning is usually rendered in reference to the god as "of Mars", or "of war/warlike" ("martial"). Alternatively, it may also be derived from the Proto-Germanic elements "mar", meaning famous and "tank", meaning thought, counsel.

It has remained a popular given name in Christian times, in honor of Saint Martin of Tours. Along with its historic Catholic popularity, it has also been popular among Protestants due to Martin Luther. In addition, African American children are often given the name in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin, along with a range of variant forms mostly of patronymic origin, borne by families descended from someone with the given name of Martin, are seen throughout Europe, though in some instances the Martin surname in England are instead of toponymic origin, coming from one of numerous places called Merton. Martin is the most common French surname and also frequent in Belgium.