A refined and quirky option which has long been used by the gentry.
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Origin:
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From the Gaelic name Máel Máedóc meaning "devotee, servant of (St) Máedóc," via the form Melmidoc, eventually becoming Marmaduc in the Middle Ages.
St Máedóc, also known as Áedán, Maedhog and Mogue, was the founder and bishop of Ferns in the 7th century. Máedóc is made up of the name Áed (from the Old Irish aodh "fire") with the prefix mo "my" and the diminutive suffix -oc. It is said that the saint's foster family gave him the affectionate name Máedóc "My little Áed" as a child.
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Usage:
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The name is found, specifically, in Yorkshire as early as the 12th century. It was particularly used by the Arell, Thweng and Constable families of Yorkshire in the spelling Marmaduc. An earlier bearer and namesake was likely the Melmidoc mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) who owned land in Wellbury during the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066).
The name was picked up on a wider scale by the gentry of Northern England in the 16th century. From there it increased in popularity and eventually it became used in wider circles of the gentry, with Duke as the standard abbreviated form. Duxon "son of Duke" also appears as a surname in Yorkshire.
It was certainly not uncommon during Victoria's reign. The 1851 census lists 552 Marmadukes and 161 Dukes, which had increased to 762 Marmadukes and 154 Dukes in 1901.
The name began to decline after 1915 and it is now used infrequently. Marmaduke has not ranked on more than 3 boys in England and Wales since 2001, however Duke has been used for between 10-3 boys each year in the last decade.
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Famous Bearers:
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History:
* Marmaduke Thweng, 1st Baron Thweng (c.14th), was an English knight from Yorkshire who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
* Sir Marmaduke Constable (c.1458–1518) was High Sheriff of Staffordshire and Yorkshire in 1488 and 1493.
* Marmaduke Langdale, 1st Baron Langdale of Holme (1598–1661) was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1639 before becomming a Royalist commander in the Civil War.
* Marmaduke Lumley (d. 1450) was Bishop of Carlisle from 1429 to 1450.
* Marmaduke Middleton (d. 1593) was an English bishop of Waterford and Lismore from 1579 to 1582 and bishop of St David's from 1582 to 1592.
* Marmaduke Cradock (1660–1716) was a British painter.
* Marmaduke Tunstall (1743–1790) was an English ornithologist and author of Ornithologica Britannica (1771).
* Squadron Leader Marmaduke Pattle (1914–1941) was a South African-born flying ace for the Royal Air Force.
Literature:
* Sir Marmaduke Morecombe is a character in Anthony Trollope's novel Phineas Finn (1867).
* Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine is a character in Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando (1928).
Peerage:
* Sir Marmaduke Lloyd (1585–c.1651) was a Welsh lawyer and landowner and a supporter of King Charles I of England during the English Civil War.
* Sir Marmaduke Beckwith, 3rd Baronet (1687–c. 1780) became a merchant in Virginia.
* Marmaduke Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley (1923–2006) was chairman of the BBC.
* Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness and 2nd Baron Furness (1883–1940), was a British shipping magnate.
* The Wyvill's of Constable Burton have had many bearers of the name Marmaduke, starting with the 1st Baronet (c.1542–1617). Several of them MPs for Richmond. The most recent Marmaduke Wyvill was born in 2010.
* Both the 6th and 7th Blennerhassett Baronet were named Marmaduke.
Celeb-babies:
* Marmaduke Mickey Percy (2006) s. of Bear Grylls.
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Variants:
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Marmaduc, Melmidoc
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Pronunciation:
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MAR-mə-dyook (UK) [key]
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Possible Diminutives:
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Drake, Duke, Mad, Mac, Mark
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Sibling Names:
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Araminta Christiana Apollonia Hermione Ottilie Sybilla
Tristram Avery Peregrine Augustin Percy Thurstan
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If you like Marmaduke you may also like:
Montague, Barnabas, Montgomery, Percival, Lancelot, Magnus, Mortimer, Cuthbert, Mycroft, Reginald
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