# Clarence (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/clarence/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 460 |
| US rank (2010) | 46,314 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 671,186 people |
| Change since 2000 | +29% (357 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈklæɹəns/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Originally a ducal title of the English and British royal family, from Clārensis (“from the town of Clare”), (the town of Clare, Suffolk), although it has also been associated with Italian Chiarenza, Clarentza, &c., a former fortress and settlement in the medieval Frankish Principality of Achaea in Greece.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Clarence in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 43% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 35% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 16% |

## Similar surnames

Clarin, Clermont, Clairmont.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.