Clark
 A scribe or clerk, the occupation from which the name derives | |
| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | Old English |
| Meaning | Clerk, scribe, secretary |
| Region of origin | England |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Clarke, Clerk |
| Frequency Comparisons[1] | |
Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland,[2] ultimately derived from the Latin clericus meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated. Clark evolved from "clerk". First records of the name are found in 12th-century England. The name has many variants.[3]
Clark is the twenty-seventh most common surname in the United Kingdom,[1] including placing fourteenth in Scotland.[4] Clark is also an occasional given name, as in the case of Clark Gable.
According to the 1990 United States Census, Clark was the twenty-first most frequently encountered surname, accounting for 0.23% of the population.[5]
Disambiguation pages
[edit]- Anne Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Brian Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Cameron Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Charles Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Chris Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Clive Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Colin Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Douglas Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- David Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Dick Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Edward Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Eugene Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- George Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Gregory Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jack Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- James Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jason Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jeff Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jim Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- John Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jonathan Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Joseph Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Kate Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Ken Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Kenneth Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Lee Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Mary Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Paul Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Robert Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Ryan Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Sally Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Samuel Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Simon Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Terry Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Thomas Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- William Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
Arts and literature
[edit]- Alton Dorian Clark (born 1984), better known as American hip-hop musician Dorian
- Andy Clark (musician), British musician
- Ann Clarke (born 1944), Canadian artist
- Annie Erin Clark, better known under her stage name St. Vincent (musician) (born 1982), American singer, songwriter, and musician
- Appleton P. Clark Jr. (1865–1955), American architect
- Blake Clark (born 1946), American actor and stand-up comedian
- Bob Clark (Benjamin "Bob" Clark) (1941–2007), an American director
- Buddy Clark (1911–1949), American singer
- Catherine Clark (born 1976), Canadian television host
- Clark (musician) (born 1979), British musician, who is also known as Chris Clark
- Christian Clark (born 1978), Australian actor
- Claudine Clark (born 1941), American R&B singer and performer of the 1962 hit record "Party Lights"
- Cora Mildred Maris Clark (1885–1967), New Zealand hockey player and nurse
- Dave Clark (musician) (born 1939), English drummer of The Dave Clark Five
- Dorothy Park Clark (1899–1983), American novelist who wrote under the pen name Clark McMeekin
- Dodie Clark (born 1995), English musician, YouTuber, and author
- Donté Clark, American poet, actor
- Ernest Clark (1912–1994), British actor
- Florence Anderson Clark (1835–1918), American author, newspaper editor, librarian, university dean
- Guy Clark (1941–2016), American musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer
- Harriet E. Clark (1850–1945), American teacher and author
- Helen Taggart Clark (1849–1918), American journalist, poet
- Hilda Margery Clarke (1926–2022), English painter and curator
- Jean Clark (artist) (1902–1999), English artist
- Joseph Benwell Clark (1857–1938), English artist
- Joshua Clark, (born 1980), American writer
- Ken Clark (actor), (1921–2009), American actor
- Laura Lee Clark (born 1964), American interior designer
- Leah Clark, American voice actor
- Libby Clark (?-2012), American journalist
- Louis Clark (1947–2021), musician and conductor with The Orchestra (successor band to ELO and ELO Part II)
- Petula Clark (born 1932), British singer, actress, and songwriter
- Robin Clark (pop singer), (born 1949), 1960s American pop singer
- Roy Clark (1933–2018), American singer and musician
- Spencer Treat Clark (born 1987), American actor
- Stephen R. L. Clark (born 1945), English philosopher
- Steve Clark (1960–1991), British guitarist for Def Leppard
- Tom Clark (journalist), Canadian television journalist
- Vicky A. Clark, American art curator
- Vinnie B. Clark (1878–1971), American educator and author
- Wallis Clark (1882–1961), English actor
- William Clark (artist) (1803–1883), Scottish artist
Business
[edit]- Allen George Clark (1898–1962), British businessman
- Arnold Clark (1927–2017), Scottish businessman
- Hilda Clark (model) (1872–1932), American Coca-Cola advertising spokesperson
- Jonas Gilman Clark (1815–1900), American businessman and the founder of Clark University
- Lance Clark (1936–2018), English businessman, of the shoe retailers Clarks
- Myron Henry Clark (1881–1953), American management consultant
- Shawn M. Clark (born c. 1964), American organizational theorist
Politics and law
[edit]- Abraham Clark (1725–1794), American politician and Revolutionary War figure
- Alan Clark (1928–1999), British Conservative politician and author, son of Kenneth Clark
- Alistair Clark, Lord Clark (fl. 2016), Scottish judge, senator of the College of Justice
- Augusta Clark (1932–2013), American librarian, lawyer and politician
- Barbara M. Clark (1939–2016), New York politician
- Benjamin S. W. Clark (1829–1912), a New York politician
- Billy J. Clark (1778–1866), a New York physician and politician
- Boyd A. Clark (1918–1978), an American politician and jurist
- Chantelle Nickson-Clark, American politician
- Darius Clark (1798–1871), New York physician and politician
- Frank M. Clark (1915–2003), American Congressman
- Gavin Brown Clark (1846–1930), MP for Caithness
- Greenleaf Clark (1835–1904), American jurist
- Helen Clark (born 1950), prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008
- Horace Clark (assemblyman), 1830s New York politician
- Horace F. Clark (1815–1873), US Congressman from New York
- Isabella Clark (1809–1857), wife of Prime Minister of Canada Sir John A. Macdonald
- Janet H. Clark (born 1941), Minnesota politician
- Joe Clark (born 1939), former prime minister of Canada
- Karen Clark (politician) (born 1945), American politician from Minnesota
- Katy Clark (born 1967), Scottish politician and trade union official
- Kelly Clark (lawyer) (1957–2013), American lawyer
- Marcia Clark (born 1953), American lawyer and author
- Maureen Harding Clark (born 1946), Irish jurist
- Newcomb Clark (1840–1913), Michigan politician
- Orville Clark (1801–1862), New York politician
- Ramsey Clark (1927–2021), US attorney general and activist
- Rita Clark (1915–2008), member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
- Satterlee Clark, American politician
- Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987), American educator and voting registration leader
- Sir Terence Clark (born 1934), British retired diplomat and writer
- Tom C. Clark (1899–1977), US attorney general, U.S. Supreme Court justice
- Zenas Clark (1795–1864), New York politician
Science and medicine
[edit]- Adam Clark, American meteorologist
- Benjamin Preston Clark (1860–1939), an American entomologist
- Bracy Clark (1771–1860), English veterinary surgeon specialising in the horse
- Cynthia Clark (born 1942), American statistician
- Daniel Kinnear Clark (1822–1896), Scottish railway mechanical engineer
- Duncan W. Clark (1910–2007), American public health specialist
- Gerry Clark (1927–1999), New Zealand sailor and ornithologist
- Grahame Clark (1907–1995), British archaeologist
- Hamlet Clark (1823–1867), English entomologist
- Hilda Clark (doctor) (1881–1955), Quaker physician and humanitarian
- Hubert Lyman Clark (1870–1947), American zoologist
- Jeanne Clark, American internist and physician-scientist
- Judson Freeman Clark (1870–1942), Canadian forester and mycologist
- Leslie J. Clark (1924–2003), British engineer and founder of Parvalux
- Lynn G. Clark (born 1956), American botanist
- Noel A. Clark (born 1940), American physicist
- Wilfrid Le Gros Clark (1895–1971), British palaeoanthropologist
Sports
[edit]- Alysha Clark (born 1987), American-Israeli basketball player
- Babe Clark, American football player
- Bobby Clark (footballer, born 2005)
- Caitlin Clark (born 2002), American basketball player
- Calum Clark (born 1989), English rugby union player
- Carmel Clark (born 1965), New Zealand swimmer
- Chuck Clark (born 1995), American football player
- Chuck Clark (ice hockey) (1891–1970), British-born Canadian ice hockey player
- Ciaran Clark (born 1989), Irish football player
- Corrie Clark (born 1982), American breaststroke swimmer
- Dallas Clark, American football player
- Damone Clark (born 2000), American football player
- Daniel Clark (born 1988), British basketball player
- Darion Clark (born 1994), American football player
- Duncan Clark (athlete) (1915–2003), Scottish hammer thrower
- Dwight Clark (1957–2018), American football player
- Earl Clark, American basketball player
- Elky Clark (1898–1956), Scottish boxer of the 1920s
- Emily Clark (born 1995), Canadian ice hockey player
- Frank Clark (footballer), English football player
- Ginger Clark (1879–1943), American baseball pitcher
- Glenn Clark (born 1969), Canadian coach of Toronto Rock
- Hannah Clark (born 1990), English cricketer
- Hudson Clark (born 2001), American football player
- Jaylen Clark (born 2001), American basketball player
- Jeremy Clark (defensive back) (born 1994), American football player
- Jerrod Clark (born 1999), American football player
- Kei'Trel Clark (born 2001), American football player
- Kelly Clark (born 1983), American snowboarder
- Kihei Clark (born 2000), American–Filipino basketball player
- Le'Raven Clark (born 1993), American football player
- Leon Clark (basketball), American basketball player
- Ocky Clark (born 1960), American middle-distance runner
- Otey Clark (1915–2010), American baseball pitcher
- R. Foster Clark, American college sports coach
- Ranza Clark (born 1961), Canadian middle-distance runner
- Roger Clark (rally driver), British rally driver
- Sherm Clark (1899–1980), American Olympic rower and rear admiral
- Stuart Clark (born 1975), Australian cricketer
- Wendel Clark (born 1966), retired Canadian ice hockey player
- Will Clark (born 1964), American baseball player
- Zoey Clark (born 1994), British sprinter
Other
[edit]- Alice Clark (historian) (1874–1934), English suffragist and historian
- Annie W. Clark (1843–1907), American social reformer
- Alister Clark (1864–1949), Australian rose-breeder
- Clark Olofsson (born 1947), Swedish criminal
- Davis Wasgatt Clark (1812–1871), American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
- Felton Grandison Clark (1903–1970), African-American university president
- Graham Clark (tenor) (1941–2023) English tenor
- Harold M. Clark (1890–1919), American army major
- Hugh Massey Clark (1886–1956), New York philatelist
- Hulda Regehr Clark, (1928–2009), alternative medicine practitioner
- Joseph Samuel Clark (1871–1944), African-American university president
- Manning Clark (1915–1991), Australian historian
- Mark W. Clark (1896–1984), American army general in World War 2 (Italy) and the Korean War
- Nada Hazel Clark (1922–1964), New Zealand trade unionist
- Nancy B. Clark, Massachusetts philatelist, president of Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum
- R. Scott Clark (born 1961) American seminary professor
- Theresa Mathilde Clark (c. 1890–1953), New York philatelist, spouse of Hugh Massey Clark
- Wesley Clark (born 1944), American army general in the Vietnam War and Kosovo
- Carlos Clark Van Leer (1865–1953), American military officer
Fictional characters
[edit]- David Clark, a character in the 2013 American crime comedy movie We're the Millers
- John Clark (Tom Clancy character), character in Tom Clancy's Ryanverse
- Lea Clark, American Girl character, "Girl of the Year" for 2016
- Tracy Clark, fictional character from The CW primetime drama 90210
- Clark Kent, secret identity of DC Superhero Superman
- Clark Griswold, fictional character from National Lampoon's Vacation film series.
See also
[edit]- The Clark Sisters, American gospel vocalists from Detroit
- Clark (TV series), Swedish TV drama series produced by Netflix
- Clark (taxonomic authority)
- Clarke
- Justice Clark (disambiguation)
- Clerke (disambiguation)
- Karen Clark Sheard (born 1960), American Grammy Award-winning singer
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Clark Surname Meaning, Origins & Distribution". Forebears.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
- ^ Clarke coat of arms, family crest and family history". irishsurnames.com. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
- ^ "Surname Clark". Surnamedb.com. Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "100 Most Common Surnames | National Records of Scotland". Nrscotland.gov.uk. 2014-09-25. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
- ^ United States Census Bureau (9 May 1995). s:1990 Census Name Files/dist.all.last (1-100). Retrieved on 2021-07-27.
External links
[edit]- Clark(e) Surname DNA Project
Data related to Clark at Wikispecies
This page lists people with the surname Clark.
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