Kirk

Kirk (m) This Christian name looks Scottish, but it has
been used far more in America and Canada than in Scotland. The word itself derives from the Norse for ‘church,’ and it was residence near a church that led to Kirk as a surname. Christian-name usage may have begun with a transferred use of the surname. Kirk was certainly being used as a Christian name in the U.S.A. by 1940. In 1941 Issur Danielovitch Demsky began his acting career and changed bis name to Kirk Douglas—’Douglas’ was in honour of the film star, Douglas Fairbanks Junior; ‘Kirk’ was chosen because it sounded ‘snazzy.’ The increased use of the Christian name that occurred in the 1950’s was undoubtedly directly due to Kirk Douglas’s film career.

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