boy's name
Clark
KLARK
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 55,593
the United States
#378
2025 births
Clark means a clergyman, and the job drifted — a clericus was in holy orders, but since the clergy were the ones who could write, the word slid across to mean anyone who kept records, which is what a clerk still is.
- Clark is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2015, when 883 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,878 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Clark over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 513 |
| 1890s | 505 |
| 1900s | 502 |
| 1910s | 2,390 |
| 1920s | 2,924 |
| 1930s | 3,768 |
| 1940s | 5,066 |
| 1950s | 6,636 |
| 1960s | 6,159 |
| 1970s | 2,534 |
| 1980s | 3,029 |
| 1990s | 2,711 |
| 2000s | 2,755 |
| 2010s | 7,005 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,708 |
What Clark means
Clark means a cleric or scribe. The word named a man in holy orders first and a record-keeper second, the sense moving with the literacy that came attached to the role.
Where Clark comes from
Clark is the Middle English clerk, from the Latin clericus, a clergyman, and behind that the Greek kleros — a lot or portion, from the practice of choosing by drawing lots. Because the clergy held a near-monopoly on literacy, the word transferred to anyone who wrote for a living, and benefit of clergy let a defendant who could read a verse of scripture escape a secular court. British English still says clark for clerk, preserving the older vowel the spelling lost.
Clark in use
Clark peaked in the United States in 2015, when 883 babies were registered — matched exactly in 2016, so the peak is a genuine tie — and our data marks it rising. It now ranks 378th in the United States on 855 births, 399th in Scotland on 9, 495th in Northern Ireland, 854th in England and Wales on 38 and 1716th in France on 20, across 55,593 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Clark?
In 2025, Clark was given to 855 babies in the United States, ranking #378 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Clark is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Clark
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Clark also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Clark over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Clark in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Clarke
Sibling names for Clark
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Clark — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Clark
What does the name Clark mean?
A cleric, and later a scribe — the Latin clericus.
Why do the British say clark?
It preserves the older vowel that the spelling clerk lost.
What was benefit of clergy?
A defendant who could read a verse of scripture could escape a secular court.
Is Clark rising?
Our data marks it rising, with a peak tied between 2015 and 2016.
How popular is the name Clark?
In 2025, Clark was given to 855 babies in the United States, ranking #378 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Clark a girl's or a boy's name?
Clark is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Clark?
Clark has 1 syllable.
When was Clark most popular?
Clark peaked in 2015, when 883 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Clark a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Clark currently ranks #334 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.