Kimber
A feminine variant of the English surname meaning "military craftsperson".
Name Census estimates that about 10,844 living Americans carry the first name Kimber. It is a predominantly female name (96.2% of registrations). The average person named Kimber today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kimber births was 2016 (523 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kimber. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Kimber is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 436 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 31,608 Americans
Peak year
2016
523 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#911
Tracked since 1914
Census
Kimber in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,172 people with the first name Kimber, which placed it at #2,606 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
#2,606
National first-name rank
People counted
9.2K
9,172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kimber
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimber is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Kimber 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 Kimber at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.1% · 7,801
- Two or more races5.0% · 458
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 412
- Black or African American3.3% · 303
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 115
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 83
Gender
Gender distribution for Kimber
Kimber leans heavily female at 96.2% of total registrations, but 436 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kimber as a male name
- Ranked #8,654 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1954 (17 births)
Kimber as a female name
- Ranked #911 in 2024
- 290 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (515 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kimber leans strongly female. 8,778 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 401 male bearers (4.4%).
Popularity
Kimber: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kimber from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,311 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kimber remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kimber 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 Kimber during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kimbers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. Texas, California, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Kimber, while Alaska, South Dakota, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 196 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kimber
The name Kimber has its roots in the Old English language, originating around the 5th to 11th centuries. It was derived from the word "cyme," which meant "royal" or "noble." The name was likely used as a descriptive term for someone of high rank or status in early Anglo-Saxon society.
In some accounts, the name Kimber is thought to have been inspired by the Old English word "cymere," which referred to a chamber or inner room, possibly suggesting a connection to a person's private quarters or living space. However, this origin is less widely accepted than the "royal" or "noble" meaning.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kimber dates back to the 11th century, when it appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name was listed as "Kimberd," likely referring to a person of some importance or nobility at that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kimber. One such person was Kimber Coverdale (1488-1569), an English Protestant reformer and translator of the first complete printed translation of the Bible into English in 1535. His work played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation and the dissemination of religious texts in the vernacular.
Another prominent figure was Kimber Shipp (1668-1718), an English pirate and privateer who operated in the Caribbean during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He gained notoriety for his daring exploits and battles against Spanish ships, contributing to the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean.
In the realm of literature, Kimber Fairfax (1867-1944) was an American novelist and short story writer known for her works depicting life in the American South. Her most famous novel, "The Sacrifice," published in 1896, received critical acclaim and helped establish her reputation as a talented writer.
The name Kimber also found its way into the world of music with Kimber Hawkey (1923-2002), an English jazz pianist and composer. He was a prominent figure in the British jazz scene during the mid-20th century and recorded numerous albums, showcasing his innovative style and improvisational skills.
Finally, Kimber Moore (1936-2016) was an American actress and model who gained recognition for her roles in various films and television shows in the 1960s and 1970s. She appeared in notable productions such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Hogan's Heroes," showcasing her talent and versatility as a performer.
People
Kimber + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kimber 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
Kimber: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kimber?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,844 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kimber 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 31,608 US residents.
Is Kimber a common name?
We classify Kimber as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,370 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kimber most popular?
The single biggest year for Kimber was 2016, when 523 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kimber is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kimber in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,172 people with the name Kimber, or 3.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,606 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 Kimber 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 Kimber?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kimber leans strongly female. 8,778 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 401 male bearers (4.4%). 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 Kimber?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimber is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Kimber most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kimber in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (7,801 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 Kimber in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kimber a female name?
Yes, 96.2% of people registered as Kimber 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 Kimber still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kimber 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 Kimber 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 named Kimber?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.