Mark

Mark comes from the Latin Marcus, itself likely from Mars, the Roman god of war — which gives the name a martial pedigree it rarely shows on the surface. Mark the Evangelist wrote the earliest of the four gospels; Mark Twain reshaped American letters; Mark Rothko painted silence in color fields. The name held a spot in the U.S. top twenty from 1955 through 1981, a remarkable run, and has since eased down but never fallen far. One syllable, one hard consonant at each end. Mark reads as plainspoken and sturdy — a name that never asks for a second look but earns one anyway.