How common is the surname Clarke?

68,281 people in the United States had the surname Clarke in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,522 Americans. It ranked 487th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Clarke?

Emilia Clarke, British actress (born 1986), followed by Cam Clarke.

Where is the surname Clarke most common?

Wikidata records people named Clarke in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.

Is the surname Clarke getting more or less common?

More common. 62,546 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 68,281 in 2010, up 9.2%.

Is Clarke also a first name?

Yes. Clarke is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Clarke

An English occupational surname, carried by 68,281 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex C462 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Clarke is more common than 99.7% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Clark, from Old English clerc (“cleric, clerk”).

Clarke is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 68,281 people named Clarke in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 4,522 Americans. That is up 9.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 62,546.

#487

rank among US surnames

68,281

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+9.2%

change since 2000 (was #476)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#478	Rowe	69,879	4,418
#479	Gallagher	69,834	4,421
#480	Farmer	69,617	4,435
#481	Hammond	69,515	4,441
#482	Hampton	69,472	4,444
#483	Townsend	69,360	4,451
#484	Ingram	69,345	4,452

Who is named Clarke

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

61% of people named Clarke identified as white (not Hispanic), 32% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 61%
Black (not Hispanic) 32%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.6%
Two or more races 2.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Clarkes

76 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Emilia Clarke
British actress (born 1986)
Cam Clarke
American voice actor, born 1957
Jason Clarke
Australian actor, born 1969
Susanna Clarke
British author (1959-)
Sarah Clarke
American actress, born 1972
Stanley Clarke
American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, born 1951
Kenny Clarke
American jazz drummer (1914–1985)
Melinda Clarke
American actress, born 1969
Edith Clarke
American electrical engineer (1884–1959)
Ron Clarke
Australian long-distance runner and politician (1937–2015)
Edmund M. Clarke
American computer scientist (1945–2020)
Simon Clarke
Australian road cyclist, born 1986

Notable Clarkes come mostly from the United States (45), Australia (14) and the United Kingdom (10).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Clarke

Clarke has the Soundex code C462, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C462.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Clarke come from?: From Clark, from Old English clerc (“cleric, clerk”).
How common is the surname Clarke?: 68,281 people in the United States had the surname Clarke in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,522 Americans. It ranked 487th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Clarke?: In the 2010 Census, 61% of people named Clarke identified as white (not Hispanic), and 32% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Clarke?: Emilia Clarke, British actress (born 1986), followed by Cam Clarke.
Where is the surname Clarke most common?: Wikidata records people named Clarke in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.
What type of surname is Clarke?: Clarke is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Clarke getting more or less common?: More common. 62,546 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 68,281 in 2010, up 9.2%.
Is Clarke also a first name?: Yes. Clarke is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.