TRACY MARTIN

Transferred use of the surname, in origin a Norman baronial name from places in France called Tracy, from the Gallo-Roman personal name Thracius + the local suffix -acum. In former times, Tracy was occasionally used as a boy's name, as were the surnames of other English noble families. Later, it was also used as a girl's name, generally being taken as a pet form of Theresa. It became a very popular girl's name in the 1960s and 70s, but has gradually declined since. It continues to be used as a boy's name in the United States but is rarely, if ever, so used in Britain.

English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms.