LYNN CLARK

Of uncertain origin: possibly an altered short form of Linda, or a derivative of the French name Line, which originated as a short form of various girls' names ending in this syllable, for example Caroline. The element -lyn(n) has been a productive suffix of English girls' names since at least the middle of the 20th century, Lynn itself having enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1950s and 60s, especially.

English: occupational name for a scribe or secretary, originally a member of a minor religious order who undertook such duties. The word clerc denoted a member of a religious order, from Old English cler(e)c ‘priest’, reinforced by Old French clerc. Both are from Late Latin clericus, from Greek klērikos, a derivative of klēros ‘inheritance’, ‘legacy’, with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy) ‘whose inheritance was the Lord’. In medieval Christian Europe, clergy in minor orders were permitted to marry and so found families; thus the surname could become established. In the Middle Ages it was virtually only members of religious orders who learned to read and write, so that the term clerk came to denote any literate man.