Marko
Barely given for two decades, it jumped hard in the early 2020s: newborns roughly quadrupled and keep climbing, though it stays rare enough that most Poles have never met one. The name is Latin, tied to Mars, the god of war, so at its root it means warlike.
Marko Pronunciation
Marko is pronounced MAHR-ko (/ˈmarkɔ/).
What Marko means
Where Marko comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Marko traces back to the Latin Marcus, a name bound to Mars, the Roman god of war. The short meaning grows from that line: consecrated to Mars, or plainly warlike. In Polish the more familiar variant is Marek, and Marko stands close beside it, a shade shorter in the mouth.
Marcus was one of the oldest Roman praenomina, carried by the emperor Marcus Aurelius among many others. From that root the name moved across Europe and settled into Slavic speech, where Marko grew common in the south and stayed known in Poland. Its sense points back to Mars.
Read a Polish class register and Marko may sit a line or two from Marek, the two forms nodding across the page. The god of war lends the name its old charge, and the meaning holds: warlike, consecrated to Mars.
How many people are named Marko
1 in 8364 men in Poland is named Marko. 2,552 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #629 among male names.
Marko's popularity over time
57 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #335 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2008.
Where parents choose Marko
Marko is most popular in Opole, 105% above the national average (10 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lubusz (+90%) and Masovian (+57%). It is least common in Lublin and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 82% and 48% below average respectively.
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Opole
+105%1 in 4,610 babies
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Lubusz
+90%1 in 4,966 babies
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Masovian
+57%1 in 6,004 babies
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Lublin
−82%1 in 51,338 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−48%1 in 18,230 babies
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Łódź
−33%1 in 14,080 babies
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Opole+105% 10 born1 in 4,610 babies+105%
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Lubusz+90% 10 born1 in 4,966 babies+90%
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Masovian+57% 59 born1 in 6,004 babies+57%
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Lower Silesian+38% 23 born1 in 6,832 babies+38%
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Lesser Poland+16% 28 born1 in 8,104 babies+16%
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Holy Cross+2% 6 born1 in 9,239 babies+2%
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Pomeranian−4% 15 born1 in 9,821 babies−4%
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Silesian−5% 23 born1 in 9,895 babies−5%
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West Pomeranian−11% 8 born1 in 10,553 babies−11%
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Subcarpathian−14% 11 born1 in 10,960 babies−14%
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Greater Poland−17% 19 born1 in 11,329 babies−17%
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Łódź−33% 9 born1 in 14,080 babies−33%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−48% 6 born1 in 18,230 babies−48%
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Lublin−82% 2 born1 in 51,338 babies−82%
Marko as a middle name
Marko is a first name for 2,552 men in Poland and a middle name for another 94, a 96/4 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 740th, between Laurent (94) and Meir (94).
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#738 Wenanty95
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#739 Laurent94
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#740 Marko94
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#741 Meir94
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#742 Miroslaw94