Kimberly: Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, & Inspiration

Girl name origins & meanings

English : Leader
Old English : Land belonging to Cyneburg; royal fortress; meadow

What does Kimberly mean and stand for?

Kimberly is the name of a city in South Africa, and is an English surname that means “Cyneburga's meadow.” During the Boer War in the late 19th century, the city of Kimberly became quite prominent; however, it wasn’t used as a given name until the 20th century.

Syllables: 3

Girl name variations

Boy name origins & meanings

Old English : Land belonging to Cyneburg; royal fortress meadow

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

English : variant spelling of Kimberley.

Famous people with this first name

Kimberly Williams

Popularity

According to Social Security Administration data, Kimberly has been slowly decreasing in popularity since falling out of the top 100 in 2013. It reached its peak in 2007 at position 54. Despite the decline, Ada has maintained a position in the top 200 for the past decade.

However, it is the 20th most popular name on FamilyEducation.com.

According to Google search data analysis, in the last five years Kimberly was at its peak popularity in August 2020..

Kimberly was most popular in the 1960s and 1970s, ranking within the top 5 for a few years there. The South African diamond town name also invokes images of namesakes such as rapper Kimberly Denise Jones (Lil’ Kim), actress Kimberly "Kim" Richards (as well as her daughter), actress Kimberly Alana Stewart, singer Kimberly Perry, TV personality Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian, actress Kimberly Payne Williams, and singer Kimberly Kaye Wyatt. Tom Petty also chose the name Kimberly for his daughter. It has also appeared in various forms of pop culture, such as Kim Possible, Melrose Place, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Full House, 24, and Freaks and Geeks.