Clarke surname meaning

Clarke is an English and Irish spelling of the occupational surname Clark. It comes from Middle English clerk or clark, from Latin clericus, originally a clergyman or member of a religious order. Because clergy handled most writing, the word also meant scribe, secretary, or scholar. In Ireland, Clarke can likewise reflect Ó Cléirigh, “descendant of the cleric.” Clark, Clerk, and Clerke are the same surname family in different spellings. Occupation is the high-confidence catalog type. The name marks literacy or clerical status in the medieval sense, not a modern office job.