Clerk ( or ) is a

patronymic surname A patronymic surname is a surname originated from the given name of the father or a patrilineal ancestor. Different cultures have different ways of producing patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based o ...

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

and Scottish-Gaelic origin, ultimately derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''clericus'' meaning "

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

", "

secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

" or a

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated. ''Clark'' evolved from "

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

". First records of the name are found in 12th century England. The name has many variants. The surname is attached to particular families or noble lineages, such as the Clerk baronets, created in the

Baronetage of Nova Scotia Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

Letters Patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

, dated 24 March 1679, and the Ghanaian historic Clerk family of

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, a distinguished intellectual clan, founded in 1843, that produced a number of pioneering scholars and clergy on the Gold Coast.

List

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 James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism an ...

(1831–1879), Scottish mathematical physicist * Jane E. Clerk (1904–1999), pioneer woman educationalist administrator on the Gold Coast * John Clerk (disambiguation) ** John Clerk (bishop) (died 1541), English cleric **

John Clerk Maxwell of Middlebie John Clerk (later Clerk Maxwell) of Middlebie (1790–1856) was a Scottish advocate and father of the mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Life He was born in Edinburgh on 10 November 1790, the son of Janet Irving and Captain James Clerk ...

(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 (politician) (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

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 (–1797), British engineer officer * Samuel Clerk, Anglican priest of the 17th century, Archdeacon of Derby * Theodore S. Clerk (1909–1965), Ghanaian urban planner and architect

References

{{surname English-language surnames Patronymic surnames Surnames of English origin Surnames of Scottish origin