Clark Explained

Clark
Meaning:	Clerk, scribe, secretary
Region:	England
Language origin:	Old English
Variant:	Clarke, Clerk
Footnotes:	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

• 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

• 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

• 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), 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, 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
• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 (–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

• 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

• 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

External links

• Clark(e) Surname DNA Project

Notes and References

1. Web site: Clark Surname Meaning, Origins & Distribution . Forebears.co.uk . 2017-06-14 . 2017-06-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170611080558/http://forebears.co.uk/surnames/clark . live .
2. Clarke coat of arms, family crest and family history". irishsurnames.com. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
3. Web site: Surname Clark . Surnamedb.com . 2008-02-05 . 2009-01-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090113214403/http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Clark . live .
4. Web site: 100 Most Common Surnames | National Records of Scotland . Nrscotland.gov.uk . 2014-09-25 . 2017-06-14 . 2017-07-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170702055850/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/births/popular-names/archive/100-most-common-surnames . live .
5. [United States Census Bureau]