Clarke

Clarke is the 466th most common surname in the United States, shared by 70,011 people at the 2020 census. That is about one person in 4,269.

By the numbers

People: 70,011
Rank: 466th
How common: 1 in 4,269
Per 100,000: 23.4

Where the name comes from

Origin an occupational name

From Clark, from Old English clerc.

Etymology from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who bears the name

How people with the surname Clarke described their own race and Hispanic origin at the 2020 census:

White, not Hispanic 56.8%
Black, not Hispanic 33.0%
Hispanic or Latino 4.8%
Two or more races, not Hispanic 4.3%
Asian or Pacific Islander, not Hispanic 0.9%
American Indian or Alaska Native, not Hispanic 0.3%

Notable people called Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008)British science fiction writer, inventor, and futurist
Emilia Clarke (born 1986)English actress, model and writer
Cam Clarke (born 1957)American voice actor
John Clarke (born 1942)British physicist
Jason Clarke (born 1969)Australian actor
Susanna Clarke (born 1959)British author
Steve Clarke (born 1963)Scottish association football player and manager
Sarah Clarke (born 1972)American actress

People named Clarke with articles in the most Wikipedia languages. Data from Wikidata (CC0).

Surnames like Clarke

Also a first name

Clarke has been given to 5,598 American babies as a first name since 1880, peaking in 1947. See it as a given name.

Try it on yourself

Source: US Census Bureau, Frequently Occurring Surnames, 2020. The Census describes the file as the surnames borne by 100 or more people; rarer names are not published. The line is not quite exact, and 617 published names come in under it, the smallest at 92 people. Race and Hispanic origin are self-reported. Rates are worked out against the 298.9 million people the file's own figures are calculated on, which is fewer than the census counted in all: the difference is everyone whose surname was too rare to publish.