Kimberlee
A feminine name derived from the English place name Kimberley.
Name Census estimates that about 15,539 living Americans carry the first name Kimberlee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kimberlee today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kimberlee births was 1970 (576 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kimberlee. 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 Kimberlee with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 22,058 Americans
Peak year
1970
576 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,209
Tracked since 1947
Census
Kimberlee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,707 people with the first name Kimberlee, which placed it at #1,920 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
#1,920
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
14,707 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kimberlee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimberlee is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Kimberlee 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 Kimberlee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.9% · 12,046
- Black or African American5.8% · 855
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 797
- Two or more races4.3% · 632
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 264
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 113
Popularity
Kimberlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kimberlee from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 4,832 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kimberlee 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 Kimberlee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kimberlees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Kimberlee, while Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 290 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kimberlee
The name Kimberlee is an English given name derived from the Old English word "cyn" meaning "royal" or "kin," and the word "beorg," meaning "hill" or "fortified place." It is believed to have originated from the region of Kimberly, a town in the northern English county of Norfolk, during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kimberlee can be traced back to the 12th century. In the Domesday Book, a historical manuscript commissioned in 1086 by William the Conqueror, there is a reference to a place called "Kynberia," which is believed to be the precursor to the modern name Kimberley or Kimberlee.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kimberlee. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Kimberlee de Ingham (1280-1349), an English noblewoman and landowner who held significant property and influence in the county of Norfolk during the 14th century.
Another notable figure was Kimberlee Whetstone (1566-1628), an English merchant and explorer who was part of the early English colonization efforts in North America. He was among the first settlers to establish the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in 1607.
In the realm of literature, Kimberlee Mansfield (1888-1923) was a renowned English novelist and poet known for her works exploring themes of love, loss, and the human condition. Her novel "The Garden Party" is considered a classic of modernist literature.
In more recent times, Kimberlee Meredith (1919-2005) was an influential American civil rights activist and leader in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She played a pivotal role in the desegregation efforts in the United States during the mid-20th century.
Lastly, Kimberlee Blackburn (born 1961) is a contemporary Australian singer-songwriter and musician, known for her unique blend of folk, rock, and pop music. Her album "The Forgetting and the Forgotten" received critical acclaim and showcased her poetic lyricism and storytelling abilities.
People
Kimberlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kimberlee 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
Kimberlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kimberlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kimberlee 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 22,058 US residents.
Is Kimberlee a common name?
We classify Kimberlee as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,661 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kimberlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Kimberlee was 1970, when 576 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kimberlee is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kimberlee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,707 people with the name Kimberlee, or 4.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,920 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 Kimberlee 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 Kimberlee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kimberlee appears almost entirely female. Of the 14,704 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kimberlee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimberlee is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Kimberlee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kimberlee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (12,046 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 Kimberlee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kimberlee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kimberlee 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 Kimberlee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kimberlee 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 Kimberlee 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 share the name Kimberlee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.