Clarke
Feminine · “clerk”
Clarke is given to both — 1,688 girls and 3,910 boys since 1880. See Clarke as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Clarke is a clerk, and in medieval England a clerk was a man in holy orders — which for several centuries meant one of the few people in a village who could read.
How old is the name Clarke?
Clarke first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Clarke is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,700 people named Clarke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clarke most popular?
Clarke peaked in 2021, reaching #1419 nationally. Today it ranks #1518, 99 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Clarke appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From clericus to Clarke
The story of Clarke
Clark and Clarke are among the commonest English surnames, formed from one of the most useful medieval occupations. Clark entered American given-name use in the nineteenth century, and the -e spelling followed as a girls' name much later, part of the 2010s movement of surname-names for daughters. Clarke appears in American feminine records from around 2013.
Meaning
clerk, cleric, scholar
From the Latin clericus, 'clergyman', through the Old English cleric and the Middle English clerk. Because literacy was largely confined to the clergy, the word came to mean anyone who could read and write, and then a keeper of records. The surname is occupational and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- clericus
- clerk
- Clarke
Related forms: Clark · Clerc · Ó Cléirigh
Pronouncing Clarke
KLARK
One syllable. Clarke and Clark are homophones; the e is silent.
Nicknames for Clarke
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
- 1991
- Most girls named
- 2021152 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1419reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- +29.6%140 in 2025, from 108
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.
Clarke in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Clark in English — spelling variant
- Clerc in French — related form
- Ó Cléirigh in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Illinois.
Clarkes among us
people named Clarke are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 11,480 born in 2025 was named Clarke
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Pooja test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Clarke's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Pooja climbed just as high around 1997, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Pooja's path sketches the road Clarke is walking now.
Clarke 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 Clarke is headed
Clarke should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Clarke beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Clarke in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The literacy meaning is concrete and records a real medieval social fact.
- One syllable, firm, and never mispronounced.
- The Irish Ó Cléirigh gives it a second and quite separate tradition.
- It reads as masculine to most English speakers.
- Clark is the commoner spelling and the two sound identical.
- It is very new as a feminine name and has little record behind it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Clarke
Feminine · #1518 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Clarkes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Clarke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clarke in 2025?
- Clarke ranks #1518 among US girl names in 2025, with 140 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Clarke?
- About 1 in every 11,480 US girls born in 2025 was named Clarke — 140 in all.
- Will my child share the name Clarke with classmates?
- Clarke will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Clarke
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rylynn#1518 · Rya#1518 · Winry#1518 · Aritzel#1518 · Jannah#1518 · Rosalind#1518 · Evalina#1512 · Wilhelmina#1512
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Clarke? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Clarke 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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