marilyn vos savant was born marilyn mach on august 11, 1946, in st. louis, missouri, to parents joseph mach and marina vos savant. savant says one should keep premarital surnames, with sons taking their fathers' and daughters their mothers'. the word "savant", meaning someone of learning, appears twice in her family: her grandmother's name was savant; her grandfather's, vos savant. she is of italian, czechoslovak, german, and austrian ancestry, being descended from the physicist and philosopher ernst mach.