Martin

See also: martin, martîn, Martín, and Martîn

English

Etymology

From Middle English Martin, from Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis +‎ -īnus (diminutive suffix). See Mārs for further etymology.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑː.tɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US, weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑɹ.tn̩/, [ˈmɑɹ.ʔn̩]
• Homophone: marten (in some accents)
• Hyphenation: Mar‧tin
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tɪn

Proper noun

Martin (countable and uncountable, plural Martins)

1. A male given name from Latin originally given in honor of a fourth century soldier-saint.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
     :Scene 2:

     Expect Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days, / Since I have entered into these wars.

   • 1767 Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, Book IV ( Slawkenbergius's Tale ):

     Luther was not born in the year 1483, but in 84; and not on the 22nd day of October, but on the 10th of November, the eve of Martinmas day, from whence he had the name of Martin. - - - Now you see, brother Toby, he would say, looking up, "that christian names are not such indifferent things;" - Had Luther here been called by any other name but Martin, he would have been damned to all eternity - Not that I look upon Martin, he would add, as a good name - far from it - 'tis something better than a neutral, and but a little - yet little as it is, you see it was of some service to him.

   • 1933, Eleanor Farjeon, “Boys' Names”, in Over the Garden Wall, Faber and Faber, page 90:

     What splendid names for boys there are! / There's Carol like a rolling car, / And Martin like a flying bird,/

   • 2006, Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn, Black Swan, published 2007, →ISBN, page 81:

     Martin was pretty dull as names went but 'Alex Blake' had a certain dash to it. His publishers hadn't considered Martin's own name to be 'punchy' enough.

2. A surname
   1. A surname originating as a patronymic.
   2. An English habitational surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a mere.
3. A placename, including:
   1. A number of places in the United States:
      1. An unincorporated community in Marion County, Florida.
      2. A town in Stephens County and Franklin County, Georgia.
      3. An unincorporated community in Armstrong Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana.
      4. A minor city in Floyd County, Kentucky.
      5. A village in Red River Parish, Louisiana.
      6. A village in Allegan County, Michigan.
      7. A census-designated place in Keith County, Nebraska.
      8. A minor city in Sheridan County, North Dakota.
      9. An unincorporated community in Clay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio.
      10. An unincorporated community in Allendale County, South Carolina.
      11. A small city, the county seat of Bennett County, South Dakota.
      12. A city in Weakley County, Tennessee.
      13. A ghost town and skiing area in Kittitas County, Washington.
      14. An unincorporated community in Grant County, West Virginia.
      15. A number of townships, including in Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota, listed under Martin Township.
   2. A village in Saint-Jean-du-Sud commune, Sud department, Haiti.
   3. The Rural Municipality of Martin No. 122, a rural municipality in eastern Saskatchewan, Canada.
   4. A place in England:
      1. A village and civil parish in New Forest district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU0619).
      2. A village in Langdon parish, Dover district, Kent (OS grid ref TR3347).
      3. A small village in Roughton parish, East Lindsey district, Lincolnshire (OS grid ref TF2366).
      4. A village and civil parish (served by Martin and Martin Dales Parish Council) in North Kesteven district, Lincolnshire (OS grid ref TF1259).
   5. A village in Našice municipality, Osijek-Baranja, Croatia.
   6. A city and district in Žilina Region, Slovakia.
   7. A suburb of Perth, in the City of Gosnells, Western Australia.

Derived terms

• Combe Martin
• Fornham St Martin
• Martin Dales
• Martin Hussingtree
• Martin Mill
• Martinsburg
• Martins Creek
• Saint Martin, Saint-Martin
• St. Martin Parish
• St. Martin's summer, St Martin's summer
• St. Martin, St Martin, St-Martin, St.-Martin
• St. Martinville
• Trimley St Martin
• Wareham St Martin

 

Related terms

• Martina
• Martinmas

 

Translations

given name

• Albanian: Martin
• Armenian: Մարտին (Martin)
• Basque: Martin (eu)
• Bavarian: Mescht
• Belarusian: Марцін m (Marcin)
• Breton: Marzhin m
• Bulgarian: Мартин m (Martin)
• Catalan: Martí (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 馬丁／马丁 (maa⁵ ding¹)

  Hokkien: 馬丁／马丁 (Má-teng)

  Mandarin: 馬丁／马丁 (zh) (Mǎdīng)

• Czech: Martin (cs) m
• Danish: Martin, Morten
• Dutch: Martijn (nl) m, Maarten (nl) m, Martinus (nl) m
• Esperanto: Marteno
• Estonian: Martin, Mart
• Fala: Martín
• Finnish: Martti (fi)
• French: Martin (fr) m
• Galician: Martiño (gl) m
• German: Martin (de) m
• Greek: Μαρτίνος (el) m (Martínos), Μάρτιν (el) (Mártin) (transliteration from English)

  Ancient Greek: Μᾱρτι̂νος m (Mārtînos)

• Hebrew: מרטין m
• Hungarian: Márton (hu)
• Icelandic: Marteinn (is) m
• Irish: Mártan m, Máirtín m
• Italian: Martino (it) m
• Japanese: マーティン (Mātin)
• Kashubian: Môrcën m
• Korean: 마틴 (Matin)
• Latin: Mārtīnus m
• Latvian: Mārtiņš m
• Limburgish: Martin (li) m
• Lithuanian: Martynas (lt) m
• Low German: Matten m
• Macedonian: Мартин m (Martin)
• Maori: Mātene
• Norman: Martîn
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Martin (no) m, Morten (no) m

  Nynorsk: Martin m, Morten m

• Picard: Martiny
• Polish: Marcin (pl) m
• Portuguese: Martinho (pt) m, Martim (pt) m
• Romanian: Martin m
• Russian: Ма́ртин (ru) m (Mártin), Марты́н (ru) m (Martýn)
• Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Ма̀ртин m

  Roman: Màrtin (sh) m

• Sicilian: Martinu (scn) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: Měto m

  Upper Sorbian: Měrćin (hsb) m

• Spanish: Martín (es) m
• Swedish: Martin (sv) c, Mårten (sv) c
• Ukrainian: Марти́н m (Martýn)
• Venetan: Martin (vec) m
• Vietnamese: Martinô, Mạc Tính, Máctinô, Mạc Ty Nho
• Vilamovian: Mjēta m, Mieta m
• Walloon: Mårtén (wa) m
• West Flemish: Maartens m

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Martin is the 20^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 702,625 individuals. Martin is most common among White (74.8%) and Black/African American (15.8%) individuals.

Anagrams

• matrin, Antrim, mantri

Albanian

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”) (Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix)).

Proper noun

Martin (m Martini)

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin (indefinite form)
2. a male surname from Latin, equivalent to English Martin. (indefinite form)

Derived terms

• Martinaj

Related terms

• Mark m, Marku m, Marki, Markaj
• Marte f, Martja f

Cebuano

Etymology

From Spanish Martín, from Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix).

Proper noun

Martin

1. a male given name from Spanish [in turn from Latin], equivalent to English Martin
2. a surname from Spanish [in turn from Latin]

Czech

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmartɪn]

Proper noun

Martin m anim (female equivalent Martina)

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin
2. a male surname

Declension

Declension of Martin (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Martin	Martinové
genitive	Martina	Martinů
dative	Martinovi, Martinu	Martinům
accusative	Martina	Martiny
vocative	Martine	Martinové
locative	Martinovi, Martinu	Martinech
instrumental	Martinem	Martiny

Further reading

• “Martin”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “Martin”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “Martin”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)
• “Martin”, in Příjmení.cz (in Czech)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmarcɪn]

Adjective

Martin

1. possessive of Marta: Marta's

Declension

Declension of Martin (possessive)

singular
	masculine animate	masculine inanimate	feminine	neuter
nominative	Martin		Martina	Martino
genitive	Martina		Martiny	Martina
dative	Martinu		Martině	Martinu
accusative	Martina	Martin	Martinu	Martino
locative	Martině, Martinu		Martině	Martině, Martinu
instrumental	Martiným		Martinou	Martiným
plural
	masculine animate	masculine inanimate	feminine	neuter
nominative	Martini	Martiny		Martina
genitive	Martiných
dative	Martiným
accusative	Martiny			Martina
locative	Martiných
instrumental	Martinými

Further reading

• “Martin”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)

Danish

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix).

Proper noun

Martin

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin

Related terms

• (male given names) Morten
• (female names) Martine
• (surnames) Martinsen, Mortensen

References

• [1] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 58 178 males with the given name Martin have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Estonian

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑrtin/, [ˈmɑrtʲin]

Proper noun

Martin

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin

Related terms

• Mart, Marten, Martti, Märt

Faroese

Proper noun

Martin m

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin

Usage notes

Patronymics

• son of Martin: Martinsson
• daughter of Martin: Martinsdóttir

Declension

	Singular
	Indefinite
Nominative	Martin
Accusative	Martin
Dative	Martini
Genitive	Martins

Finnish

Proper noun

Martin

1. genitive singular of Martti

Anagrams

• mitran

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”, from Mars +‎ -īnus (diminutive suffix)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʁ.tɛ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ̃

Proper noun

Martin m

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin. Feminine form: Martine
2. a surname originating as a patronymic

Derived terms

• été de la Saint-Martin

Anagrams

• mirant, rimant

German

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmarˌtiːn/, [ˈmaʁ-], [ˈmaɐ̯-], [ˈmaː-]

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmar.tɪn/ (somewhat less common)

Proper noun

Martin

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin

Derived terms

• Martinssingen

Related terms

• Martina (female name)
• Martinisingen

Proper noun

Martin m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Martins or (with an article) Martin, feminine genitive Martin, plural Martins)

1. a surname originating as a patronymic

Middle English

Alternative forms

• Martyn

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis +‎ -īnus (diminutive suffix). See Mārs for further etymology.

Proper noun

Martin

1. a male given name

Descendants

• English: Martin
• Yola: Marteen

References

• “Martin”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix). First recorded in Norway ca. 1200.

Proper noun

Martin

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin

Usage notes

• The most common given name of men born in Norway in the 1990s.

Related terms

• (male given names) Morten
• (female given names) Martine
• (surnames) Martinsen, Mortensen

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [2] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 20 132 males with the given name Martin living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1990s. Accessed on April 29th, 2011.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix).

Proper noun

Martin m (nominative singular Martins)

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Martin m

1. a male given name

Derived terms

• Martĩiz

Related terms

• Martinho

Descendants

• Portuguese: Martim

Further reading

• Universo Cantigas - "Martin"

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmartin]

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Martin m pers (genitive singular Martina, nominative plural Martinovia, declension pattern of chlap)

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin
2. Martin (a city in Slovakia)

Declension

Declension of Martin

	singular	plural
nominative	Martin	Martinovia
genitive	Martina	Martinov
dative	Martinovi	Martinom
accusative	Martina	Martinov
locative	Martinovi	Martinoch
instrumental	Martinom	Martinmi

Further reading

• “Martin”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2024

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix).

Proper noun

Martin c (genitive Martins)

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Martin

Related terms

• (male given names) Mårten
• (female given names) Martina
• (surnames) Martinsson, Mårtensson

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• [3] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 72 420 males with the given name Martin living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.