Clarke
Masculine · “clerk”
Clarke is given to both — 3,910 boys and 1,688 girls since 1880. See Clarke as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Clarke is the English surname for a clerk — and in the Middle Ages a clerk was a man who could read, which usually meant a man in minor orders. The word traveled from the Church to the counting-house without ever losing its link to literacy.
How old is the name Clarke?
Clarke was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Clarke alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 2,600 people named Clarke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clarke most popular?
Clarke peaked in 1880, reaching #809 nationally. Today it ranks #3181, 2,372 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From clericus to Clarke
The story of Clarke
In a society where reading was a clerical skill, the man who kept the accounts was a clerk whether or not he was ordained, and families took the word as a surname in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Clark and Clarke are the same name, the e added or dropped by whichever scribe wrote it down. It crossed to America early and moved into given-name use in the nineteenth century, where it has stayed in quiet, continuous use.
Meaning
clerk, scribe, scholar
From Latin clericus, a clergyman, through Old English cleric and Old French clerc; because the clergy were the literate class, the word came to mean anyone who could write.
How the name formed
- clericus
- clerc
- Clarke
Related forms: Clark · Leclerc · Chierici
Pronouncing Clarke
KLARK
One syllable. The final e is silent and changes nothing.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 194761 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #809reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −2.6%37 in 2025, from 38
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
- Leclerc in French — related form
- Chierici in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, North Carolina.
Clarkes among us
people named Clarke are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 46,164 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
Fashion outlook
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 boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented occupational meaning with a genuinely interesting social history behind it.
- One syllable, easy to say and impossible to mispronounce.
- Long-standing American use as a given name, not a recent surname experiment.
- Clark is the more common spelling and the e will be dropped for him constantly.
- The comic-book reporter is the first association for a great many Americans.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Clarke to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Clarke? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Clarke
Masculine · #3181 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 2,600 people named Clarke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clarke in 2025?
- Clarke ranks #3181 among US boy names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Clarke?
- About 1 in every 46,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Clarke — 37 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.
Diamond#3181 · Walden#3181 · Tobin#3181 · Keion#3181 · Artem#3181 · Arsh#3181 · Kris#3181 · Esau#3181
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.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle