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There are approximately 164,227 people named Clark in the UK. That makes it the 28th most common surname overall. Out of every million people in the UK, approximately 2,599 are named Clark.

Region of origin

British Isles

Country of origin

England

Language of origin

English

Religion of origin

Christian

Classification

English
Status Name

Related and similar surnames

Clarke
Clerk
Clarck
Clar
Clair
Calrk
Clare
Clerke
Cclark
Clairk
Claerk
Claark
Claerke
Claarke
Clairke
Clarek
Clarc
Chlark
Clarcke
Clareke
Cclerk
Clarec
Clairc
Clarcks
Claearke
Clarco
Clarcu

The Clark surname in historical dictionaries

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857)

Clerk, a clergyman, a scholar, one who can read and write.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

Patronymica Britannica (1860)

CLARK. CLARKE. Lat. clericus. Fr. Le Cletc. A learned person — that is, one who could in old times read and write — accomplishments not so rare, after all, as Ave are sometimes induced to think, since this is among the commonest of surnames. Clark stands 27th and Clarke 39th in the Eegistrar General's comparative list: and for 33,557 Smiths registered within a given period, there were 12,229 Clarks and Clarkes. Thus for every three hammermen we have at least one ' ready writer.' If the Reg. General had reckoned Clark and Clarke as one name, it would have stood nmtJt, in point of numerousness. As a surname, Clarke appears frequently to have aliased some other appellative; for instance the baronet family, C. of Sal ford, originally Woodchurch, from the parish of that name in Kent, soon after the Conquest became Clarkes (Le Clerc) in consequence of a marriage with an heiress, and the family for some generations wrote themselves " Woodchurch alias Le Clerc," and Vice versa, until at length the territorial appellation succumbed to the professional one, which was right, for .

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.

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