Clark

What Clark means

Means “clergyman; learned man”

From Old English clerc (“clergyman; learned man”), whence also clerk.

Source: Wiktionary, “Clark” (revision 92412762), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Clark?

US: Steady: #372 in 2015, #377 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #414 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1881, when 66 boys got the name (#175 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,041 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 7,156 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,091 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (2.77 per 1,000 boys), UT (1.47 per 1,000 boys), ID (1.39 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Clark is #377 in the US and #845 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 97.9% of US babies named Clark were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Clarke37 US · 9 E&W
• Klark5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Clark

Boys

• Elliott#160“my God is Yahweh”^*
• Dean#125“valley”^*
• Royce#499Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #499 vs #1,307 in 2025
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Graham#120“gravel + homestead”^*
• Calvin#132“bald”^*

For a sister

• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Everleigh#194“wild boar + woodland clearing”^*
• Blake#295“black”^*
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*
• Scarlett#32Editor’s note Down from #22 in 2015 to #32 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Clark’s. Rank is US 2025.