Given name & surname
Martin
“dedicated to Mars, the god of war”
Martin is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “dedicated to Mars, the god of war.”
Original LatinMartinus
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “dedicated to Mars, the god of war.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
From Middle English Martin, from Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), built from Latin Mars + -īnus.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Martin was in use during the Middle Ages.
Martin through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 317,037
- 315,561 boys · 1,476 girls
- Most popular year
- 1963
- 6,091 babies
- 2025
- 1,009
- #335 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −14%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,009 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 335 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 14.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 6,073 in 1963. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (184). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 271,877 as a first name in 2020; 678,691 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Martin’s family of names
In English usage, Martin has a diminutive in Marty. Martin has a feminine form in Martina. In Estonian usage, Martin has a related form in Marti.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Martin has relatives in 49 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Latinwhere Martin comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 46
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Martydiminutive · English
- Martivariant · Estonian, German
- Martinovariant · Italian, Portuguese
- Martellvariant
- Martelvariant
- Martinezdiminutive · French
- Martievariant
- Martynvariant · Middle English
Show 38 moreShow fewer
- Martenvariant · Estonian, German
- Martdiminutive · English, Estonian
- Martinianovariant
- Martialvariant
- Marcinvariant · Polish
- Maartenvariant · Dutch
- Marteevariant
- Martonvariant
- Martinusvariant · German, Latin
- Martijnvariant · Dutch
- Mertinvariant · German
- Mertenvariant · German
- Martinsvariant · German
- Martinivariant · German
- Martevariant · German
- Marttinlikely variant
- Martinnlikely variant
- Tintindiminutive · ceb
- Martinekdiminutive · zlw-ocs
- Martínekdiminutive · Czech
- Maťovariant · Slovak
- Märtvariant · Estonian
- Mårtenvariant · Swedish
- Martainnvariant
- Marteavariant
- Marteyvariant
- Martinosvariant
- Martinienvariant
- Martennvariant
- Martinkodiminutive · Slovak
- Märtinsvariant · German
- Mertinsvariant · German
- Mertesvariant · German
- Mertensvariant · German
- Mehrtensvariant · German
- Martinsenvariant · German, Danish
- Martensenvariant · German
- Märtensvariant · German
Spellings & scripts 5
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 41
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Martinafeminine form · English
- Martinefeminine form
- Marteendescendant · yol
- Mortencognate · Norwegian Bokmål, Danish
- MartynasLithuanian
- Měrćinequivalent
- Martinianequivalent
- Sartinequivalent
Show 33 moreShow fewer
- Määtesequivalent
- Martèinequivalent
- Martimdescendant · Portuguese
- Martínderivative · Spanish
- Martenocognate · Esperanto
- Mårténcognate · Walloon
- Martticognate · Finnish
- MartíCatalan
- Mietawym
- Mártancognate · Irish
- Môrcëncsb
- MártonHungarian
- Martînnrf
- MārtiņšLatvian
- ΜάρτινGreek
- МарцінBelarusian
- MáirtínIrish
- MāteneMāori
- MàrtainnScottish Gaelic
- MětoLower Sorbian
- MarteinnIcelandic
- Martinhocognate · Portuguese
- Mjētawym
- ΜαρτίνοςGreek
- MartinuSicilian
- МартынRussian
- Motyïnlorrain
- マーティンJapanese
- 马丁Chinese, zh-cn
- MarzhinBreton
- MartínezSpanish
- 馬丁zh-tw
- Mairtincognate
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Martin
- Martin LutherGerman priest and theologian (1483–1546)
- Martin Luther King Jr.American Baptist minister and civil rights leader (1929–1968)
- Martin HeideggerGerman philosopher (1889–1976)
- Martin Van Burenpresident of the United States from 1837 to 18411782–1862
- Martin ScorseseAmerican filmmaker (born 1942)
- Martin LandauAmerican actor (1928–2017)
- Martin of ToursChristian saint316–397
- Martin BuberGerman Jewish Existentialist philosopher and theologian (1878–1965)
- Martin RyleEnglish radio astronomer (1918–1984)
Characters named Martin: Martin Prince (The Simpsons character), Martin Keamy (fictional character of the TV series Lost), Martin Beck (fictional Swedish police detective), Martin Krpan (protagonist of the Slovene tale Martin Krpan z Vrha (F. Levstik, 1858); Slovene folk hero).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Martin, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Russell
“a little red-haired boy”
>99% boys
Vincent
“conquering” · “one who prevails; the conquerer”
>99% boys
Victor
“conqueror” · “one who is victorious; the champion”
>99% boys
Mark
“dedicated to Mars, the god of war”
>99% boys
Allen
“one who is precious” · “resembling a little rock”
>99% boys
Phillip
“one who loves horses”
>99% boys
Ron
“song of Joy”
>99% boys
Dennis
“a follower of Dionysus”
99% boys · 1% girls