Martin

From the Latin Martinus, a derivative of Martus, itself a form of the Roman praenomen and god-name Martus, the Roman god of war, whose name may ultimately derive from an Italic root of uncertain meaning. The name spread widely across Europe through the influence of Saint Martin of Tours, the fourth-century bishop whose charity and missionary work made him one of the most venerated saints of the medieval Western church. Martinus gave rise to an exceptionally broad family of cognates and variants across European languages, including Martín in Spanish, Martîn in Norman, Martijn in Dutch, and the feminine forms Martina and Martine. The name gained renewed cultural prominence through the reformer Martin Luther and, in the twentieth century, the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.