Clark Surname

Meaning and origin of the surname Clark

Occupational surname derived from Old English clerec and Old French clerc, meaning 'clerk', 'scribe', 'scholar', or member of a minor religious holy order literate in Latin.

Historically and linguistically, Clark belongs to the English, Irish and Scottish family of surnames. It is conventionally pronounced "KLARK".

United States Census frequency and ranking

In the official 2010 United States Census, Clark was recorded 562,679 times, ranking as the 27th most common surname in the nation.

This represents an incidence rate of approximately 190.75 bearers per 100,000 Americans, or roughly 1 out of every 524 residents.

Race and ethnicity distribution

According to official decennial Census genealogy microdata, individuals bearing the surname Clarkreported the following racial and ethnic affiliations in the 2010 US Census:

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 Census Surnames Data. Percentages may not sum to exactly 100% due to independent rounding or suppression of small cell counts for privacy protection.

History of the surname Clark

Clark originates from the ecclesiastical Latin clericus, which entered Old English as clerec and Old French as clerc. In medieval society, when literacy was largely confined to religious orders, a clerk was an educated individual capable of reading, writing, and keeping official accounts. As secular bureaucracy expanded in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the term designated professional scribes, notaries, and legal record-keepers.

The surname was recorded early throughout England (appearing in the 1273 Hundred Rolls as le Clerk). In Scotland, Clark and Clarke flourished across the Lowlands. In Ireland, Clark was widely adopted as an Anglicized translation of the indigenous Gaelic surname Ó Cléirigh ('descendant of the clerk' or Cleary), one of the oldest recorded hereditary surnames in Europe, associated with the hereditary chroniclers of Connacht.

Clark was carried by early colonial settlers and played a pivotal role in early American exploration, notably through William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) and Revolutionary War general George Rogers Clark. In the 2010 US Census, Clark ranked 27th nationwide with 562,679 recorded bearers (190.75 per 100,000 Americans).

Notable people with the surname Clark

• William Clark (1770–1838), American explorer and leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
• Jim Clark (1936–1968), Scottish Formula One racing driver and two-time World Champion
• Caitlin Clark (2002–), American professional basketball player and WNBA star
• Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008), English science fiction writer and futurist