Lark is an English feminine given name derived directly from the name of the songbird, particularly the Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis). The word comes from Old English lāwerce, related to German Lerche and Dutch leeuwerik, all ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root. Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae, known for their melodious flight songs, often delivered high in the sky. This characteristic has made the lark a symbol of joy, dawn, and creative inspiration in European poetry and music, most famously in Shakespeare's phrase “the lark … sings hymns at heaven’s gate” and in the poem “The Lark Ascending” by George Meredith (later set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams). As a given name, Lark emerged in the late 19th and 20th centuries within the English-speaking world as part of the trend, along with Robin and Wren, toward “bird-aviary” names that evoke nature and grace. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution; the Eurasian skylark is widespread from Europe across Asia to eastern Siberia, while the Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) ranges through North America. The Alaudidae are notably diverse in Africa. Historically, these birds have also been endowed with symbolic meanings in different cultures—associated with Annunciation in Christian art because of their high flying and with mystical ascent in Sufi poetry.