Name Awesome

Clarke

#3,192 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Clarke has been given to 5,598 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #3,192 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1947, with 61 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 70% boys, 30% girls all-time.

Babies named Clarke, 2025

1 in 89,600

Clarke over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Clarke over time

In 2025, Clarke went to 79% girls and 21% boys.

18802025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Clarke: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Clarke means

Clarke is a given name.

The naming story behind Clarke

Wikidata records Clarke as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q16275210, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,910 boys were recorded with the name Clarke between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 61 in 1947; its best national rank was #831 in 1880.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,735 in 2020 to #3,192 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,163 in 2015 to #3,192 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,688 girls were recorded with the name Clarke between 1991 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 152 in 2021; its best national rank was #1,420 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,504 in 2020 to #1,519 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,306 in 2015 to #1,519 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Clarke?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 89,600
37 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 46,200
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,192
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
62,106 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Clarke sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 62,106 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Clarke. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Clarkes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Clarke was born before 1961 — so the typical Clarke is around 64 today.

Median birth year
1961
About 64 years old
Biggest decade
1950s
12.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
20.2%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,541
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1950s — 12.6% of all recorded uses (491).

Is Clarke rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+150
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−457
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−29
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
1.03×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
60.7%
Peak was 1947 (61)
Years since peak
78
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#831
1880

Spellings of Clarke

Clarke is not the most common spelling — Blake is, with 53.8% against Clarke's 1.1%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Clarke is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Clarke was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 263,611 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2New York1 in 100,000
  3. 3Florida1 in —
  4. 4Illinois1 in —
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in —
  6. 6Maryland1 in —
  7. 7Michigan1 in —
  8. 8North Carolina1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Clarke has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Clarke is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Clarke was most concentrated in Indiana — about 1 in 7,143 girls, against 1 in 19,325 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).

114 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Indiana1 in 7,143
  2. 2Illinois1 in 9,091
  3. 3Oregon1 in 11,111
  4. 4Michigan1 in 12,500
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 12,500
  6. 6Georgia1 in 14,286
  7. 7Kentucky1 in 14,286
  8. 8Texas1 in 14,286

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Clarke around the world

Where Clarke ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #2,440
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1974–2013
    #687
    in 2013
  • Northern Ireland
    2002–2022
    #352
    in 2022
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,281
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1955–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Clarke

People whose public names include Clarke, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Clarke in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Clarke. Linked forms have their own page here.

Clark

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Clarke by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,192
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 457
Best rank ever
#831
1880
Peak year
1947
61 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,910
Count in 2025
37

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,519
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 15
Best rank ever
#1,420
2021
Peak year
2021
152 that year
First recorded
1991
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,688
Count in 2025
140

Names similar to Clarke

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ClancyClaudioClaireBurkeClareClaudieClaranceClaudiusClaudClairClaudeClarkClaraClaytenClarnceClaysonRoarkeClaudiaRourkeClanceClaudyClayClaytonClaus

Names with a curve like Clarke

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Clarke, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

DarvinLovellWaylandLouNilsStaffordWilliamsStantonDeltonFritzHoseaPrentice

Sibling names for Clarke

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Clarke

Top names of 1947, Clarke's peak yearThe 1940s in fullOther names that peaked in 1880Boys' names starting with C