m English, Russian, Biblical
Pronounced: MARK
Familiar form of MARCUS. Saint Mark was the author of the second Gospel in the New Testament. He is the patron saint of Venice, where he is supposedly buried. Another famous bearer of this name was Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius), the Roman triumvir who was the lover of Cleopatra. Shakespeare tells this story in his tragedy 'Antony and Cleopatra'. Yet another famous bearer was the American author Mark Twain, real name Samuel Clemens, author of 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Huckleberry Finn'.
MARCUS
m Ancient Roman, English, Biblical (Variant)
Pronounced: MAR-kus
Roman praenomen, or given name, which was probably derived from the name of the Roman god MARS. Two famous Roman bearers of this name were Marcus Tullius Cicero (known simply as Cicero), a statesman and orator, and Marcus Aurelius, a notable emperor of the 2nd century. This was also the name of a pope of the 4th century. Marcus is the original form of the name Mark.
MICHAEL
m English, German, Czech, Biblical
Pronounced: MIE-kul
From the Hebrew name Miyka'el which meant "who is like God?". This was the name of one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies, and thus is considered the patron saint of soldiers. This was also the name of nine Byzantine emperors and a czar of Russia. Other more modern bearers of this name include the 19th-century chemist/physicist Michael Faraday and basketball player Michael Jordan.
PATRICK
m Irish, English, French, German
Pronounced: PAT-rik (English), pat-REEK (French)
From the Roman name Patricius, which meant "nobleman" in Latin. A 5th-century saint, the patron saint of Ireland, adopted this name (his birth name was Sucat). During his youth he was captured by Irish raiders and enslaved, but after six years of servitude he escaped to his home in Britain. Eventually he became a bishop and went back to Ireland as a missionary, where he succeeded in Christianizing the entire country.
FEEHILY
Quite numerous: Sligo, Cork etc. Ir. Ó Fithcheallaigh (chess-player) of W Cork; sometimes Feeley and even Field and Fielding. Another sept of the same name occurs in Connacht under the form of Feehilly and Feeley, q.v. MIF