Marcelo

Marcelo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus which is an ancient Roman diminutive of Marcus. Marcus comes from the Latin and is one of the oldest Roman forenames in existence. In fact, back during antiquity and the classical era, Marcus was one of only a dozen or so given names used for boys. For instance, Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) who lived in the first century B.C. was a notable name bearer. After Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C., Antony joined together with Octavian and Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate. This political alliance would later collapse when Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium (31 B.C.). Shortly thereafter Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra committed suicide. In the 2nd century Roman Empire, Marcus Aurelius, considered a philosopher-king and symbolizing much of what was good about Roman civilization, was the last of the “Five Good Emperors”. The etymological origin of the name is not certain. It likely comes from one of two places. The first is Mars, the Roman god of war. The second is from the Latin adjective “mas” meaning “male, virile” which essentially means the same thing. The main source of Marcos’ or Marcelo’s popularity is owed to the biblical Evangelist and author of the second gospel of the New Testament (as in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Marcos would be considered the more formal form of Mark while Marcelo originated as a pet form. Marcelo is currently most popular in South America, particularly in Chile and Brazil.