Clark
Appearance
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, 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.[2]
Clark is the twenty-seventh most common surname in the United Kingdom,[1] including placing fourteenth in Scotland.[3] 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.[4] Notable people with the surname include:
Disambiguation pages
- Anne Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Brian 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
- Edward Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- David Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Dick Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Eugene Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- George 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
- Ken Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Kenneth Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Robert Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Ryan Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Samuel Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Simon Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Thomas Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- William Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
Arts and literature
- Alton Dorian Clark (born 1984), better known as American hip-hop musician Dorian
- Andy Clark, British musician
- Anne 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
- Bob Clark (Benjamin "Bob" Clark) (1941–2007), an American director
- Buddy Clark (1911–1949), American singer
- Catherine Clark (born 1976), Canadian television host
- Chris Clark (born 1979), British musician, known by the mononym "Clark"
- Christian Clark (born 1979), Australian actor
- Claudine Clark, R&B singer and performer of the 1962 hit record "Party Lights"
- Dave Clark (born 1942), 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
- Ernest Clark (1912–1994), British actor
- Guy Clark (1941–2016), American musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer
- Helen Taggart Clark (1849–?), American journalist, poet
- Hilda Margery Clarke (born 1926), English painter and curator
- Jean Clark (1902-1999), English artist
- Joshua Clark, (born 1980), American writer
- Ken Clark, (1921-2009), American actor
- Louis Clark, musician and conductor with The Orchestra (successor band to ELO and ELO Part II)
- Robin Clark, (born 1949), 1960s American pop singer
- Steve Clark (1960–1991), British guitarist for Def Leppard
- Tom Clark, Canadian television journalist
- Vicky A. Clark, American art curator
- Vinnie B. Clark (1878-1971), American educator and author
Business
- Allen George Clark (1898–1962), British businessman
- Arnold Clark (1927–2017), Scottish businessman
- Hilda Clark (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 ca 1964), American organizational theorist
Politics and law
- 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
- 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, 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
- Joe Clark (born 1939), former Prime Minister of Canada
- Karen Clark (born 1945), American politician from Minnesota
- Katy Clark (born 1967), Scottish politician and trade union official
- Kelly Clark (lawyer) (1957–2013), American lawyer
- Marcus R. Clark (born 1956), Louisiana Supreme Court justice
- Orville Clark (1801–1862), New York politician
- Ramsey Clark (born 1927), US Attorney General and activist
- Satterlee Clark, Jr., American politician
- 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
- Adam Clark, American meteorologist
- Benjamin Preston Clark (1860-1939), an American entomologist
- Bracy Clark (1771–1860), an English veterinary surgeon specialising in the horse
- 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
- Hilda Clark (1881-1955), Quaker physician and humanitarian
- Hubert Lyman Clark (1870-1947), American zoologist
- Leslie J. Clark (1924–2003), British engineer and founder of Parvalux
- Lynn G. Clark, American botanist
- Wilfrid Le Gros Clark (1895–1971), British palaeoanthropologist
Sports
- Babe Clark, American football player
- Carmel Clark (born 1965), New Zealand swimmer
- Chuck Clark (born 1995), American football player
- Corrie Clark (born 1982), American breaststroke swimmer
- Dallas Clark, 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
- Frank Clark (footballer), English football player
- Ginger Clark (1879–1943), American baseball pitcher
- Glenn Clark (born 1969), Canadian coach of Toronto Rock
- Jeremy Clark (defensive back) (born 1994), American football player
- Kelly Clark (born 1983), American snowboarder
- Ocky Clark (born 1960), American middle distance runner
- Otey Clark (born 1915), American baseball pitcher
- R. Foster Clark, American college sports coach
- Ranza Clark (born 1961), Canadian middle distance runner
- Roger Clark, 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
Other
- Alice Clark (1874–1934), English suffragist and historian
- Alister Clark (1864–1949), Australian rose-breeder
- Davis Wasgatt Clark (1812–1871), American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
- Felton Grandison Clark (1903-1970), African-American university president
- 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 Wayne Clark (1896–1984), American army general in WW2 (Italy) and the Korean War
- Nancy B. Clark, Massachusetts philatelist, president of Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum
- R. Scott Clark (born 1961) American seminary professor
- Theresa Maria Clark (c. 1890–1953), New York philatelist, spouse of Hugh Massey Clark
- Wesley K. Clark (born 1944), American army general in the Vietnam War and Kosovo
Fictional characters
- Tracy Clark, fictional character from The CW primetime drama 90210
See also
- Clark Kent, the civilian identity of cultural icon, Superman
- The Clark Sisters, American gospel vocalists from Detroit
- Clark (taxonomic authority)
- Clarke
- Justice Clark (disambiguation)
- Clerke (disambiguation)
- Karen Clark Sheard (born 1960), American Grammy Award-winning singer
References
- ^ a b "Clark Surname Meaning, Origins & Distribution". Forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
- ^ "Surname Clark". Surnamedb.com. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "100 Most Common Surnames | National Records of Scotland". Nrscotland.gov.uk. 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
- ^ United States Census Bureau (9 May 1995). s:1990 Census Name Files dist.all.last (1-100). Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
External links
- Clark(e) Surname DNA Project
- Data related to Clark at Wikispecies