Kimara
An English feminine name of unknown origin, possibly from an African or Arabic root.
Name Census estimates that about 579 living Americans carry the first name Kimara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kimara today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kimara births was 2007 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kimara. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kimara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
579
~ 1 in 591,976 Americans
Peak year
2007
35 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,945
Tracked since 1956
Census
Kimara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 538 people with the first name Kimara, which placed it at #19,583 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#19,583
National first-name rank
People counted
538
538 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kimara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimara is Black at 70.3%. The next largest groups are White (10.6%) and Hispanic (8.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kimara described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kimara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.3% · 378
- White10.6% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 47
- Two or more races6.7% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Kimara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kimara from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 207 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kimara by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kimara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kimaras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kimara
The name Kimara is believed to have its origins in the Kikuyu language spoken by the Kikuyu people of Kenya. It is thought to be derived from the Kikuyu word "kimara," which means "beautiful" or "lovely." The name likely emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century when the Kikuyu people began documenting their language and cultural traditions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kimara can be found in the writings of Jomo Kenyatta, a prominent Kenyan political leader and the country's first prime minister and president. In his book "Facing Mount Kenya," published in 1938, Kenyatta discussed various aspects of Kikuyu culture, including names and their meanings.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kimara. One example is Kimara Wamwere, a Kenyan human rights activist and former political prisoner. Born in 1949, Wamwere spent many years campaigning for democratic reforms in Kenya and was imprisoned multiple times for his activism.
Another notable figure with the name Kimara is Kimara Alli, a British actress and model of Kenyan descent. Born in 1977, Alli has appeared in various television shows and films, including "The Bill," "Holby City," and "Hustle."
In the realm of literature, Kimara Muindi is a renowned Kenyan author and playwright. Born in 1942, Muindi has written several plays and novels that explore themes of identity, culture, and social issues within the Kenyan context.
Moving to the field of sports, Kimara Bartee is an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Born in 1984, Bartee specializes in the long jump and triple jump events.
Finally, Kimara Kua is a Tanzanian musician and songwriter known for her contributions to the bongo flava genre, a popular form of Tanzanian hip hop. Born in 1988, Kua has released several successful albums and has gained a significant following in East Africa.
People
Kimara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kimara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kimara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kimara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 579 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kimara going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 591,976 US residents.
Is Kimara a common name?
We classify Kimara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 607 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kimara most popular?
The single biggest year for Kimara was 2007, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kimara is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kimara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 538 people with the name Kimara, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,583 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kimara in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kimara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kimara leans strongly female. 538 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kimara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimara is Black at 70.3%. The next largest groups are White (10.6%) and Hispanic (8.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kimara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kimara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.3% (378 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kimara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kimara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kimara in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kimara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kimara in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kimara can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Kimara?
You can see how many people share the name Kimara on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.