How to say it
KIM · ber · ly
/ˈkɪm.bər.li/
Feminine
Kimberly
Cyneburga's field
What it means
An English place name, an old personal name joined to leah ('wood, clearing'), later a first name.
Kimberly began as an English place name built from an Old English name plus leah, 'clearing.' The South African diamond town of Kimberley, prominent during the Boer War, pushed it into wider use, and it became a defining American girls' name from the 1950s through the 1970s. It almost always shortens to the breezy Kim. Kimberley is the older, fuller spelling.
Popularity over time
peaked at #2 in 1966, currently #303 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Kim is the near-automatic short.
- Worth knowing
Reads distinctly mid-century, peaking with the Boomer and early Gen X generations.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Kimberley the South African diamond-mining town that boosted the name
Spelling variants
- Kimberley
- Kimberlee
- Kymberly