Mark is a common male name and is related to the Latin word Mars.

Mark the Evangelist is the traditionally ascribed eponymous author of the second Gospel in the New Testament.

Though in use during the Middle Ages, Mark was not common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century, when it began to be used alongside the classical form Marcus.

He took his pen name from a call used by riverboat workers on the Mississippi River to indicate a depth of two fathoms.

This is also the usual English spelling of the name of the 1st-century BC Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).