&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Tavernier_Jean_Mielot.jpg) A scribe or clerk, the occupation from which the name derives | |
| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | Old English |
| Meaning | clerk, scribe, secretary, scholar |
| Region of origin | England |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Clark, Clarke Clerc, de Clerk, De Clerq, De Clerc, Klerk/de Klerk |
| Frequency Comparisons[1] | |
Clerk (/klɑːrk/ or /klɜːrk/) is a patronymic surname of English-language and Scottish-Gaelic origin, ultimately derived from the Latin clericus meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated.[2][3][4][5][6] Clark evolved from "clerk". First records of the name are found in 12th century England. The name has many variants.[7][8]
The surname is attached to particular families or noble lineages, such as the Clerk baronets, created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia by Letters Patent, dated 24 March 1679, and the Ghanaian historic Clerk family of Accra, a distinguished intellectual clan, founded in 1843, that produced a number of pioneering scholars and clergy on the Gold Coast.[9][10][11]
Other notable people with the surname include:
- Alexander A. Clerk (born 1947), Ghanaian American sleep medicine specialist and psychiatrist
- Alexander Worthy Clerk (1820–1906), Jamaican Moravian missionary to the Gold Coast
- Archibald Clerk (1813–1887), Church of Scotland minister and a leading Gaelic scholar of the Victorian era
- Carl Henry Clerk (1895–1982), Ghanaian agricultural educator, journalist, editor and Presbyterian minister
- Dugald Clerk (1854–1932), Scottish engineer and designer of the world's first successful two-stroke engine
- Gabrielle Clerk (1923–2012), Canadian psychologist and professor
- George Clerk (disambiguation)
- George Clerk (diplomat) (1874–1951), British diplomat
- George C. Clerk (1931–2019), Ghanaian botanist and plant pathologist
- Sir George Clerk, 6th Baronet (1787–1867), Scottish politician
- Sir George Clerk-Maxwell, 4th Baronet (1715–1784), Scottish landowner
- George Russell Clerk (1800–1889), civil servant in British India
- Sir James Clerk, 3rd Baronet (died 1782)
- James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), Scottish mathematical physicist
- Jane E. Clerk (1904–1999), pioneer woman educationalist administrator on the Gold Coast
- John Clerk (disambiguation)
- John Clerk Maxwell of Middlebie (1790–1856), Scottish advocate
- John Clerk of Eldin (1728–1812), Scottish merchant, naval author, artist, geologist and landowner
- John Clerk of Pennycuik (1611–1674), Scottish merchant and archivist of family papers
- John Clerk, Lord Eldin (1757–1832), Scottish judge
- Sir John Clerk, 1st Baronet (died 1722), Scottish politician
- Sir John Clerk, 2nd Baronet (1676–1755), Scottish politician, lawyer, judge and composer
- Sir John Clerk, 5th Baronet (1736–1798), Royal Navy officer
- Matilda J. Clerk (1916–1984), Ghanaian medical pioneer and science educator
- Nicholas Clerk (disambiguation)
- Nicholas Clerk (fl. 1407), English politician and the Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Exeter in 1407
- Nicholas T. Clerk (1930–2012), Ghanaian academic, administrator and Presbyterian minister
- Nicholas Timothy Clerk (1862–1961), Basel-trained theologian and missionary on the Gold Coast
- Pauline M. Clerk (1935–2013), Ghanaian civil servant, diplomat and presidential advisor
- Robert Clerk (disambiguation)
- Robert Clerk (c. 1720–1797), British engineer officer
- Theodore S. Clerk (1909–1965), Ghanaian urban planner and architect
- ^ "Clark Surname Meaning, Origins & Distribution". Forebears.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
- ^ "What Was the Role of a Clerk During the Middle Ages?". Reference. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ "Medieval Occupations". www.ancientfortresses.org. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ "History of the Municipal Clerk". Archived from the original on 25 September 2017.
- ^ "Clerk Definition Page". www.stat.ucdavis.edu. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ "Clerk Name Meaning, Family History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms". HouseOfNames. January 2000. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ "Surname Clark". Surnamedb.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
- ^ Newman, Simon (29 May 2012). "Law in the Middle Ages". Archived from the original on 17 January 2018.
- ^ Anquandah, James Ghana-Caribbean Relations – From Slavery Times to Present: Lecture to the Ghana-Caribbean Association. National Commission on Culture, Ghana. (November 2006). "Ghana-Caribbean Relations – From Slavery Times to Present: Lecture disambiguation to the Ghana-Caribbean Association" (PDF). National Commission on Culture, Ghana. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Alex Clerk and family, catechist in Aburi. – BM Archives". www.bmarchives.org. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ Debrunner, Hans W. (1965). Owura Nico, the Rev. Nicholas Timothy Clerk, 1862-1961: pioneer and church leader. Watervile Publishing House. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2018.