Marius is a male name, a
Roman family name
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
, and a modern
surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
.
The name Marius was used by members of the Roman ''
gens
In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...
''
Maria. It is thought to be derived from either the Roman war god
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
or from the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
root ''mas'' or ''maris'' meaning "male". It may also derive from the Latin word ''
mare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...
'' meaning "sea", the plural of which is ''maria''.
In Christian times, it was
syncretized as a masculine form of the unrelated feminine given name
Maria, from the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
Miriam
Miriam (, lit. ‘rebellion’) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The Torah refers to her as "Miria ...
,
Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
variant
Mariam, and used alongside it.
Today, the name Marius is a common given name in Romania, Norway, and Lithuania. The name is also used in the Philippines, France, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa.
The
Greek name
Marios (Μάριος), the
Italian and
Spanish name
Mario
Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
, the
Polish name
Mariusz, the
Portuguese name
Mário and the
Catalan name Màrius are all derived from Marius.
People
Notable people with the name include:
Romans
*
Gaius Marius (157–86 BC), Roman general
*
Gaius Marius the Younger (ca. 110/108–82 BC), son of Gaius Marius
*
Gaius Marius Victorinus (4th century AD) Roman philosopher
*
Marcus Aurelius Marius, (d. AD 269), Gallic Emperor
*
Marcus Marius (quaestor 76 BC) (
fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
76 BC), Roman quaestor and proquaestor
*
Marcus Marius Gratidianus (d. 82 BC), Roman praetor
*
Marius Maximus (fl. early 3rd century AD), Roman senator and biographer of Emperors
Given name
*
Marius Ambrogi (1895–1971), French fighter pilot in both World Wars
*
Marius Amundsen (born 1992), Norwegian footballer
*
Marius Antonescu (born 1992), Romanian rugby union player
*
Marius Bianchi (1823–1904), French politician
*
Marius Borg Høiby (born 1997), first child of Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway
*
Marius Bourrelly (1820–1896), French poet and playwright
*
Marius Brenciu (born 1973), Romanian operatic tenor
*
Marius Bunescu (1881–1971), Romanian painter
*
Marius Cazeneuve (1839–1913), French stage magician
*
Marius Clore (born 1955), British-American molecular biophysicist and structural biologist
*Marius Job Cohen, known as
Job Cohen (born 1947), Dutch jurist and politician
*
Marius Constant (1925–2004), French composer and conductor
*
Marius Copil (born 1990), Romanian tennis player
*
Marius Crainic (born 1973), Romanian mathematician
*
Marius Ebbers (born 1978), German footballer
*
Marius Gabriel (born 1954), South African author
*
Marius Girard (1838-1906), French poet
*
Marius Goring (1912–1998), English actor
*
Marius Grigonis (born 1994), Lithuanian basketball player
*
Marius Grout (1903–1946), French writer
*
Marius Haas (born 1945), German journalist and diplomat
*
Marius Hasdenteufel (1894–1918), French World War I flying ace
*
Marius Jouveau (1878–1949), French poet
*
Marius Kižys (born 1982), Lithuanian footballer
*
Marius Könkkölä (born 2003), Finnish footballer
*
Marius Louw (born 1964), South African author
*
Marius Lăcătuş (born 1964), Romanian footballer
*
Marius von Mayenburg (born 1972), German actor
*
Marius Mercator (about 390–451), Latin Christian ecclesiastical
*
Marius Mircu (1909–2008), Romanian journalist and memoirist
*
Marius Mitrea (born 1982), Romanian–Italian rugby union referee
*
Marius Müller-Westernhagen (born 1948), German musician and actor
*
Marius Nasta (1890–1965), Romanian physician and scientist
*
Marius Michel Pasha (1819-1907), French architect and lighthouse builder
*
Marius Petipa (1819–1910), French-Russian ballet dancer and choreographer
*
Marius Roustan (1870-1942), French politician.
*
Marius Russo (1914–2005), American baseball player (pitcher)
*
Marius Sestier (1861–1928), French cinematographer
*
Marius Söderbäck (born 2004), Finnish footballer
*
Marius Trésor (born 1950), French footballer
*
Marius Tucă (born 1966), Romanian journalist and TV host presenter
*
Marius Urzică (born 1975), Romanian gymnast
*
Marius Yo (born 2000), Japanese–German singer
Surname
*
Clinton Marius (1966–2020), South African performer and writer
*
Richard Marius (1933–1999), American Reformation scholar
*
Simon Marius or Simon Mayr (1573–1624), German astronomer
*Simon Marius or
Simon Mayr (1763–1845), German composer
Fictional or legendary characters
* Marius, a character in the book ''
The Letter for the King''
*
Marius of Britain, legendary king of the Britons during the Roman occupation
*
Marius Pontmercy, in Victor Hugo's novel ''Les Misérables''
*Marius, protagonist of the novel ''
Marius the Epicurean'' by Walter Pater
*Marius Von Hagen, one of the four male leads in the otome game ''
Tears of Themis''
*Marius Titus, the playable protagonist in the video game ''
Ryse: Son of Rome''
See also
*
Maria gens
*
Mario (given name)
*
Marius (disambiguation)
*
Mariusz
{{surname
Ancient Roman nomina
Masculine given names
Romanian masculine given names