Markiplier's Real Name: Mark Fischbach

Quick answer: Markiplier's documented name in contemporary profiles is Mark Fischbach. Business Insider dates his birth to June 28, 1989, in Honolulu, Hawaii; Variety, in a June 2016 article, likewise said he would turn 27 on June 28 and traces his early career to Cincinnati (Business Insider; Variety).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Markiplier. Business Insider says his father, Cliffton Fischbach, was a U.S. service member from Louisville, Kentucky, who met his mother, Sunok Frank, while stationed in South Korea, and that the couple later divorced; Cliffton died in July 2008. Fischbach has an older brother, Jason, a digital artist, the same profile says. He later lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, and studied biomedical or medical engineering at the University of Cincinnati—Variety uses "biomedical engineering," Business Insider "medical engineering"—before leaving the program. Variety says a layoff, a family argument, and a hospital stay led him to start making videos; Business Insider says he dropped out as the channel took off.

Career highlights

Business Insider records that an earlier YouTube channel was abandoned after problems with his AdSense account, and that he launched a new channel, markiplierGAME, in April 2012, later renamed Markiplier. Early playthroughs included Amnesia: The Dark Descent. His first Five Nights at Freddy's playthrough became one of his most-watched videos and a recurring franchise on the channel. Variety, writing in 2016, when he already had a large following, said he had also posted sketch comedy and physical-comedy videos and had moved to Los Angeles in 2014. Business Insider later noted a mix of gameplay and comic videos such as "MEOW," "WOOF," and "MOO," and said that by his tenth year on the platform he had more than 32 million subscribers and over 5,000 videos. The same 2022 profile said one of his projects had been nominated at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards. Variety quoted Courtney Holt of Maker Studios on his community of viewers and his interest in expanding into scripted series, games, and charity projects.

Name notes for searchers

Variety and Business Insider identify him as Mark Fischbach. The Library of Congress Name Authority, citing a 2020 book, records the fuller form Mark Edward Fischbach; that longer form was not used in the two career profiles cited above. He is known professionally as Markiplier. Searchers looking for the Five Nights at Freddy's YouTuber, or for markiplierGAME, are usually aiming at the same person.