Clarence

From WikiName

 |male

 3

ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Clarence is an English name with Latin origins. It derives from the title Clarensis which has its roots in the members of the British royal family. “Clarence as a name dates from the mid-1800s and comes from the title ‘Duke of Clarence’ usually given to a son (but not the heir) of the ruler of England.” (Duke of Clarence is Dux Clarentiae in Latin.) The title has geographic origins from the Clare River in Ireland. The Duchy of Clarence, or Clare, was originally located in Ireland. Clarence’s Latin etymological origins refer to “Bright” or “Shining.”^{[1] [1] [1]}

POPULARITY

According to the Social Security Administration, Clarence has been one of the 1000 top most popular names in the United States for the past 100 years. With the last century, however, Clarence has faced a slow and steady decline bringing it now to its lowest point in popularity. In 1908, Clarence ranked as the 19th most popular name in the country and remained one of the top 100 most popular names until 1951. Its highest ranking years were 1912 and 1913 when it ranked 21st for each of those years. During the 1950s and forward, Clarence faced a more rapid decline, losing approximately 100 spaces in the rankings and reaching 157th by 1960, 257th by 1980, 373rd by 1990 and then almost doubling that drop to 616th by the year 2000. The last decade has been particularly unpopular for Clarence (Please see chart below.) as it moved from 616th to 845th in just seven years.

Social Security Administration

FACTS

• Clarence House is the name of the home of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (Prince Charles and Camilla). They have lived in Clarence House since 2002. Prior to their occupancy, Clarence house was the long term home of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Charles' grandmother and Queen Elizabeth II's mother. The Queen Mother lived there from 1953 until her death in 2001. Clarence House has been a royal London residence for over 170 years.^[1]

NAMESAKES

• Clarence, New York is a town established in 1808 and was originally inhabited by the “Ta-Num-No-Ga-O” Native American Indians.^[1]

FAMOUS PERSONS

• Clarence Darrow (1857 - 1938)was one of the most famous and controversial attorneys in the history of the United States. He is best known for his 1924 representation of the child murderers Leopold and Loeb, who killed 14-year-old Bobby Franks, and for defending John T. Scopes in 1925 in what was then called the "Monkey" Trial and revolved around the right to teach evolution in schools. Darrow and Scopes supported the theory of evolution.^[1]

Author: Mike Szimanski

NOTES