Explore the Family Name Clerk

The meaning of Clerk

1. English: variant of Clark. 2. Americanized form of French Clerc and perhaps also of the Dutch and Flemish cognates De Klerk and De Clerck or of variants of these names. Compare Clark 3. Some characteristic forenames: French Pierre, Jacques.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Clerk in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Clerk saw a significant rise in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Clerk ranked as the 29,447th most popular surname, but by 2010 it had advanced to the rank of 22,944. This represents a growth rate of 22.08%. Similarly, the number of individuals bearing the surname increased from 756 in 2000 to 1,115 in 2010 - a remarkable increase of 47.49%. The proportion per 100,000 people also expanded from 0.28 to 0.38, marking a 35.71% change.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#29,447	#22,944	22.08%
Count	756	1,115	47.49%
Proportion per 100k	0.28	0.38	35.71%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Clerk

In terms of ethnic identity, as provided by the Decennial U.S. Census data, there were several shifts for those with the Clerk surname from 2000 to 2010. The percentage identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander grew by 57.98%, while those indicating they belonged to two or more races experienced a notable increase of 157.58%. The White demographic also saw a significant uptick, going from 32.94% to 52.74%, a change of 60.11%. The Hispanic community within the Clerk surname holders nearly doubled, increasing by 99.06%. Meanwhile, the percentage of those identifying as Black decreased from 62.30% to 38.83%, a drop of 37.67%. American Indian and Alaskan Native identifiers slightly declined by 20.25%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	32.94%	52.74%	60.11%
Black	62.3%	38.83%	-37.67%
Hispanic	2.12%	4.22%	99.06%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.19%	1.88%	57.98%
Two or More Races	0.66%	1.7%	157.58%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.79%	0.63%	-20.25%