UK boy's name
Marco
A male name of Italian origin meaning "warlike" or "martial".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Marco is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Marco popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #567, with 67 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2019, with 118 births.
This profile covers 2,518 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 57% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 3,054 living people in the UK are called Marco. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Marco ranked #567 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 67 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2019, when 118 boys were registered as Marco.
- • Marco ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #404 in 2024.
- • About 3,054 living people in the UK are estimated to have Marco as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#567
2024
Births in 2024
67
Latest year
Peak year
2019
118 births
Estimated living
3,054
2026
Meaning
What does Marco mean?
The name Marco is derived from the ancient Roman name Marcus, which is a praenomen or personal name. Marcus is likely related to the name of the Roman God Mars, who was the God of War. The name Marco is the Italian form of Marcus and has been used since at least the 4th century AD.
Marco is a masculine name that was popular throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods in Italy. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Marco is Marco Polo, the famous Venetian merchant and explorer who traveled to Asia in the 13th century (1254-1324). His travels and writings about China and the Mongol Empire brought knowledge of these regions to Europe.
Another famous Marco from history is Marco Girolamo Vida, an Italian Renaissance poet and bishop who lived from 1485 to 1566. He wrote the didactic epic poem "Christiad" which told the story of Christ's life. Marco Polo's travel accounts and Marco Vida's poetry helped spread the Italian Renaissance across Europe.
In the 16th century, Marco Antonio de Dominis (1560-1624) was a Croatian Catholic bishop and scientist who made discoveries in optics and vision. Marco da Gagliano (1582-1643) was an Italian composer who helped develop the new genre of opera in Florence.
A more recent historical figure with the name Marco is Marco Arment, an American writer, developer, and entrepreneur who co-founded Tumblr and created popular apps like Instapaper and Overcast. He was born in 1982 and exemplifies how the name Marco has endured in various cultures for centuries.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Marco over time
The chart below shows babies named Marco registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Marco, the clearest high point is 2019. The latest England and Wales figure is 67 births in 2024, compared with 118 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marco by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Marco was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #503 | 392 | 5 |
| 2010s | #421 | 977 | 10 |
| 2000s | #362 | 859 | 10 |
| 1990s | #341 | 290 | 4 |
Geography
Where Marco is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Marco. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Marco ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #404 in 2024.
Across the UK
Marco in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#432 in 2024
51 years of NRS records, 525 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#404 in 2024
10 years of NISRA records, 37 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Marco
-
Marco Secchi
photographer; writer
Italian photographer
2000-
-
Marco Cardinale
physiologist
British sports physiologist
2000-
-
Marco Wegener
association football player
association football player
1995-
-
Marco Warren
association football player
Bermudian footballer
1993-2023
-
Marco Andreoni
association football player
British footballer (born 1988)
1988-
-
Marco Biagi
politician
Scottish politician (born 1982)
1982-
-
Marco Librizzi
sport cyclist; track cyclist
Scottish track cyclist
1970-
-
Marco Camisani Calzolari
writer; entrepreneur; showman; consultant
Italian-British academic
1969-
Related
Names similar to Marco
- Matthew 80,931
- Mohammed 74,321
- Muhammad 72,235
- Max 59,807
- Michael 47,075
- Mason 38,935
- Mohammad 25,910
- Morgan 15,994
- Muhammed 11,527
- Mark 11,336
- Marcus 11,257
- Maxwell 10,006
FAQ
Marco: questions and answers
How popular is the name Marco in the UK right now?
In 2024, Marco was ranked #567 for boys in England and Wales, with 67 births registered.
When was Marco most popular?
The peak year on record was 2019, with 118 babies registered as Marco in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Marco?
A male name of Italian origin meaning "warlike" or "martial".
How many people are called Marco in the UK?
A total of 2,518 babies have been registered as Marco across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 525 more in Scotland and 37 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Marco most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Marco ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #404 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.