Clark
Masculine · “clerk”
Clark is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 50,851 boys against 354 girls since 1880.
Clark began as an occupational surname for the one person in a medieval village who could read and write — the clerk, the scribe, the man in minor orders. It traveled from that job description into English family names, then into American given names, and it has stayed in quiet use ever since. One firm syllable, spelled the way it sounds.
How old is the name Clark?
Clark was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Clark alive today was born around 1966, making them about 59 years old. About 35,000 people named Clark are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clark most popular?
Clark peaked in 1881, reaching #175 nationally. Today it ranks #377, 202 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Where it comes from
From clericus to Clark
The story of Clark
The Latin clericus gave Old English clerc and Middle English clerk, a word that meant clergyman first and then, as reading spread beyond monastery walls, simply a scholar or record-keeper. Men known by that trade were called Clark or Clarke, and the surname became one of the most widespread in England and Scotland. Like Grant, Dean and Scott, it crossed into the given-name column in nineteenth-century America, where family surnames were freely handed forward as first names. It has held a modest, unbroken place on the American charts from the earliest records onward.
Meaning
clerk, scribe, cleric — one who could read and write
From Latin clericus, 'clergyman', which in medieval England came to mean any literate man, since literacy and the church largely overlapped.
How the name formed
- clericus
- clerc
- clerk
- Clark
Related forms: Clarke · Clerk · Clerc · Clericus
Pronouncing Clark
KLARK
One syllable, rhyming with park. Almost no room for error in English, and speakers of most other languages manage it on the first try.
Nicknames for Clark
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2016867 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #175reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- +14.8%837 in 2025, from 729
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Clark in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Clarke in English — spelling variant
- Clerk in English (archaic) — spelling variant
- Clerc in French — related form
- Clericus in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Illinois.
Clarks among us
people named Clark are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,041 born in 2025 was named Clark
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Clark sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Clark is headed
Clark should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Clark beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Clark in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, and already familiar to Americans as a very common surname — few people will ask you to repeat it.
- A single firm syllable, which sits easily beside longer middle names and most surnames.
- A documented meaning that is settled rather than argued over: the literate man, the record-keeper.
- Present in American records from the very beginning of the charts and never absent since — a long, level history rather than a spike.
- Clark Kent is the first association for a great many people, and it will come up — usually affectionately, occasionally at length on a playground. Worth deciding in advance whether that amuses you.
- One syllable means no natural short form. A child who wants a nickname will mostly have to be given one, or invent it from initials.
- The name is more strongly represented among older generations than among today's babies, so a young Clark may be the only one in his class while sharing a name with men his grandfather's age.
- Clarke, with the e, is the more usual spelling of the surname in Britain and Ireland, so expect the occasional added letter on forms.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Clark to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Clark
Masculine · #377 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Clarks are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 35,000 people named Clark are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clark in 2025?
- Clark ranks #377 among US boy names in 2025, with 837 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Clark?
- About 1 in every 2,041 US boys born in 2025 was named Clark — 837 in all.
- Will my child share the name Clark with classmates?
- Clark will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Clark
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hugo#377 · Desmond#376 · Kayce#375 · Daxton#379 · Forrest#374 · Ricardo#380 · Winston#381 · Lawson#381
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Clark? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Clark and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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