Names/C

Clarke

boys’ name · 71%girls’ name · 29%ComebackCompare

Clarke is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 35 births. Its best rank was 831st, in 1880.

Rank in 2024
outside the top 1,000
Births in 2024
350.00% of boys
Peak year
194761 births
Best rank
#831in 1880
Since 1880
5,418people given the name
Babies named Clarke, by year of birthboysgirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

3,872 boys have been named Clarke in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1947, with 61 births.

This is a comeback. After an early peak the name fell to a fraction of its former share, and it has been climbing again for the past decade.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1961, and the 1950s alone account for 13%. It has spent 15 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

Clarke is used for both sexes: 29% of its bearers are girls (1,546), most of them born around 2021.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadeboys named Clarke
1880s16
1890s11
1900s26
1910s206
1920s315
1930s356
1940s439
1950s491
1960s417
1970s232
1980s288
1990s305
2000s212
2010s375
2020s183

In 1947, its biggest year

Clarke was the 890th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1947 were James, Robert, John, William and Richard. See all of 1947.

Names that rose and fell with Clarke

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.