Clark

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ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Clark is a boy’s name which originated as a surname. From the Latin word clericus, it means “cleric,” and “clerk,” or “learned” (learn-ed). From Old English, it means “cleric,” or “secretary,” and from French, it means “clergyman.”

In the Middle Ages, priests and monks made up the vast majority of the literate population. People who were not members of the clergy, but had the very rare talent of reading and writing were clerks (or scribes). Though they were often on the bottom rungs of the ladder in minor religious orders, they weren’t bound by the restrictions placed on priests and monks: they weren’t required to be celibate, so the occupational surname, Clark, was passed from generation to generation.

POPULARITY

Down through the ages, Clark has remained a common surname and a popular first name for boys. From 1900 to 2006, it’s been in the top 1000 on the charts in the United States, topping out at about 280 in the 1940s.

FACTS

• Since Superman’s debut as a superhero in 1934, Clark Kent has been a well-loved figure in comic books (graphic novels), on TV, and in the movies. However, what most people don’t know is that Superman actually arrived on the scene as a villain in 1933!
• According to numerology, people named Clark are usually creative, and they want to improve the world (Clark Kent!). They’re intuitive and are able to see the big picture as they strive to achieve their goals.
• Clark Gable’s line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" was voted as the #1 movie quote by the American Film Institute. The common belief that Gone With the Wind was the first movie in which the word damn was uttered is false. It was used in many silent films (in the intertitles, of course), in Cavalcade (1933) and Pygmalion (1938).

NAMESAKES

Movies and TV shows with Clark, as a first name, in the title:

• The Woman Who Married Clark Gable (1985)
• Clark Kent (1988) TV
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993) TV series
• Clark Gable: Tall Dark and Handsome (1996)
• Clark Gable and Carole Lombard (2003) TV
• The Interrogation of Clark Grant (2004)
• Clark and Michael (2006)

Places, places, places! Clark is an extremely popular place name in the United States, due in no small part, to explorer William Clark (Lewis and Clark).

• Alabama: Clark, Clark’s Gap
• Alaska: Clark Bay, Clarks Point, Clark Glacier, Clark Island
• Arizona: Clark Well, Clark Canyon, Clark Peak, Clark Ranch, Clark Wash
• Arkansas: Clark County, Clark Hollow, Clarks Farm, Clark Hill, Clark Lake, Clark Bayou, Clarks Corner
• California: Clark Canyon, Clark Fork, Clark Mountain, Clark Valley, Clarks Butte, Clark Grove, Clark Ranch, Clark Peak, Clarks Valley Ranch, Clark Gulch, Clark Range, Clark Point, Mount Clark, Clarks Summit, Clarks Pass, Clark Mountain Range, Clarks Crossing
• Colorado: Clark, Clark Ranch, Clark Point, Clark Peak, Clark Hill, Clark Canyon
• Connecticut: Clark Hill, Clark Point, Clark Cove, Clarks Falls, Clarks Village, Clarks Corner
• Delaware: Clark Point
• Florida: Clark, Clarks Bay, Clark Island, Clark Hammock
• Georgia: Clarks Island, Clarks Bluff, Clarks Junction, Clark Mountain, Clarks Mill, Clarks Mineral Spring, Clarks Fork
• Idaho: Clark County, Clarks Ferry, Clark Fork, Clark Ranch, Clark Canyon, Clarks Island, Clark Valley, Clarks Cut, Clark Spring, Clark Gulch, Clark Tree, Clarks Ridge, Clark Point
• Illinois: Clark, Clark County, Clark Center, Clarks Point, Clark Branch, Clark Island, Clarks Mound
• Indiana: Clarks, Clark County, Clark Siding, Clark Run, Clark Hill, Clarks Landing, Clark State Forest
• Iowa: Clark, Clarks Branch, Clark Museum of Area History, Clark Memorial Tower, Clarks Ferry Recreation Area, Clarks Woods Park
• Kansas: Clark County, Clark State Fishing Lake And Wildlife Area
• Kentucky: Clark County, Clark Fork, Clarks Run, Clark Hill, Clark Hollow, Clarks Corner, Clark Landing
• Louisiana: Clarks, Clark Hollow, Clark Pocket, Clarks Coupe, Clark Branch, Clarks Landing, Clarks Bayou
• Maine: Clark Mountain, Clark Ledge, Clark Cove, Clark Point, Clark Ridge, Clark Meadow, Clark Island Ledge, Clark Cove, Clark Hill, Clark and Lake Settlement, Clarks Corner, Clarks Mills
• Maryland: Clark Point, Clark Run Nature Area, Clark Corners, Clarks Landing
• Massachusetts: Clarks Point, Clark Island, Clark Mountain, Clarks Cove, Clarks Hill
• Michigan: Clarks Mill, Clark Island, Clark Bayshore, Clark Corners
• Minnesota: Clark Island, Clark Bay, Clarks Grove, Clark Valley, Clarks Point
• Mississippi: Clark
• Missouri: Clark, Clarks, Clark County, Clark City, Clark Hollow, Clarks Fork, Clark Ford, Clarks Fort, Clark Mountain
• Montana: Clark, Clarks Lookout State Park, Clark Canyon, Clark Ranch, Clark Gulch, Clark Mountain, Clark Coulee
• Nebraska: Clarks, Clark Island, Clark Federal Waterfowl Production Area
• Nevada: Clark, Clarks, Clark County, Clark Canyon, Clark Mountain
• New Hampshire: Clark Point, Clark Landing, Clark Island, Clark Hill, Clark Summit
• New Jersey: Clark, Clarks Mill, Clarks Landing, Clark Memorial Park
• New Mexico: Clark and Brown Canyon, Clark Peak, Clark Canyon, Clark Draw, Clark Monument 9, Clark Spring Canyon, Clarks Monument
• New York: Clark, Clark Hill, Clark Hollow, Clark Hollow Bay , Clark Corners, Clark Heights, Clarks Island, Clark Mountain, Clarks Point, Clark Point, Clark Mills, Clarks Mills, Clark Reservation State Park, Clark Island Shoal, Clarks Corner, Clark Gully
• North Carolina: Clark, Clark Mountain, Clark Point, Clarks Crossroads, Clarks Island, Clarks Bay, Clark Cove, Clark Gap, Clark Reef, Clark Field, Clark Banks, Mount Clark
• North Dakota: Clark City, Clark Butte
• Ohio: Clark, Clarks, Clark County, Clark Corners, Clarks Corner, Clark Hill, Clark Island, Clark Hollow, Clarks Landing
• Oklahoma: Clarks Heights
• Oregon: Clark Slough, Clark Mountain, Clark's Mountain, Clark Meadow, Clark Glacier, Clark Butte, Clark Ranch, Clark Canyon, Clarks Canyon, Clarks Bar
• Pennsylvania: Clark, Clarks Island, Clark Island, Clarks Corners, Clarks Knob, Clarks Summit, Clarks Green, Clarks View, Clarks Mills, Clark Hill, Clark Hollow
• Rhode Island: Clarks Village, Clarks Point
• South Carolina: Clark Sound, Clarks Point, Clarks Ferry, Clarks Mill, Clarks Hill, Clark Point, Clark Estates, Clarks Crossroads
• South Dakota: Clark, Clark County, Clark Ranch, Clark Mountain, Clark Colony
• Tennessee: Clarks Landing, Clark Gap, Clark Mountain, Clarks Mill, Clark Hollow, Clark Ford, Clarks Ferry, Clarks Creek Shoals, Clarks Shoals
• Texas: Clark, Clarks Ferry, Clarks Monument, Clark Monument Number 4, Clark Monument Number 7, Clark Monument 10, Clark Hollow, Clark Ranch, Clark Station, Clark Bend, Clark Island, Clark Colonia, Clark Butte, Clark Place Draw, Clark Oil Field, Clark Bottom
• Utah: Clarks Basin, Clark Hollow, Clark Valley, Clark Bench, Clarks Canyon
• Vermont: Clark Hollow, Mount Clark, Clark Point, Clark Hill, Clark Mountain
• Virginia: Clark, Clark Bay, Clark Mountain, Clark Ridge, Clarks Crossing, Clarks Corner, Clark Point, Clarks Gap
• Washington: Clark Glacier, Clark Mountain, Clark Canyon, Clark Point, Mount Clark, Clark Ridge, Clark Peak, Clark Island, Clark Island State Park
• West Virginia: Clark, Clark Gap, Clark Knob, Clark Ridge
• Wisconsin: Clark, Clark County, Clark Island, Clarks Mills, Clarks Point
• Wyoming: Clark, Clark Draw, Clarks Gulch, Clarks Fork Canyon, Clarks Fork Trailhead, Clark Butte

FAMOUS PERSONS

• Clark Gable (1901-1960) – actor, best known for his role of Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, 1934 Best Actor Academy Award winner for his performance in It Happened One Night, On Hollywood's Footprints of Fame, has a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures.
• Clark Griffith (1869-1955) – baseball player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.
• Clark Hallas – 1981 Pulitzer Prize winner for Investigative Reporting.
• Clark Hoyt (b. 1943) – 1943 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.
• Clark Mollenhoff (b. 1921) – 1958 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.
• Clark Scholes (b. 1931) – 1952 Olympic swimming gold medal winner for 100m Freestyle, won two golds at the 1955 Pan Am Games, won two national AAU titles, five NCAA championships and three Big Ten championships, inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1980.

NOTES

<http://www.answers.com/> <http://www.babynamer.com/> <http://www.behindthename.com/> <http://www.birthvillage.com/babynames.php/> <http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080207/SPORTS12/802070499/0/SPORTS/> <http://www.essortment.com/all/supermanhistory_ryql.htm/> <http://www.imdb.com/> <http://www.placenames.com/> <http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/> <http://www.wshs.org/wshs/columbia/articles/0101-a4.htm/>

OTHER CLARK'S

Clark Jensen, Clark Smith, Clark Johnson, Clark Williams, Clark Jones, Clark Brown, Clark Davis, Clark Miller, Clark Wilson, Clark Moore, Clark Taylor, Clark Abney, Clark Abramson, Clark Abrea, Clark Acklr, Clark Acron, Clark Acton, Clark Acuna, Clark Adelman, Clark Balalrd, Clark Aamodt, Clark Abbey, Clark Abbott, Clark Abejero, Clark Abel, Clark Abercrombie, Clark Aberle, Clark Ables, Clark Abrahams, Clark Absher, Clark Abshier, Clark Abt, Clark Ackerman, Clark Acosta, Clark Acree, Clark Adams, Clark Adamson, Clark Addison, Clark Adger, Clark Adkerson, Clark Adkisson, Clark Aaron, Clark Abe, Clark Abecassis, Clark Abell, Clark Abernathy, Clark Abild, Clark Abraham, Clark Abrahamson, Clark Abrams, More results

Author: Madeleine Wieder