Kimera
A fantastical name derived from the mythological Greek chimera.
Name Census estimates that about 23 living Americans carry the first name Kimera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kimera today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kimera births was 1957 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kimera. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kimera. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
23
~ 1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Peak year
1957
7 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1999 SSA rank
#15,697
Tracked since 1956
Census
Kimera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 150 people with the first name Kimera, which placed it at #45,340 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
#45,340
National first-name rank
People counted
150
150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kimera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimera is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (38.7%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Kimera 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 Kimera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 71
- Black or African American38.7% · 58
- Two or more races6.0% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 4
Popularity
Kimera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kimera from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 12 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kimera 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 Kimera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kimera
The name Kimera is of Greek origin, derived from the word "chimera," which means a mythical fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. The name is believed to have been used as early as the 8th century BC, appearing in ancient Greek literature and mythology.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Kimera can be found in Homer's Iliad, where the Chimera is described as a fierce and terrifying creature that was slain by the hero Bellerophon. The Chimera was also mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony, an epic poem from the 8th century BC, which further solidified its place in Greek mythology.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kimera. In the 5th century BC, Kimera of Ephesus was a renowned Greek philosopher and mathematician, known for his work on the concept of infinity and his contributions to the development of geometry.
During the Byzantine era, Kimera Doukas (c. 1060-1105) was a prominent military commander and nobleman who played a significant role in the Byzantine Empire's campaigns against the Seljuk Turks. He was renowned for his bravery and tactical skills on the battlefield.
In the 15th century, Kimera Paleologos (c. 1420-1490) was a Greek scholar and humanist who fled to Italy after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. She became a respected teacher and contributed to the preservation and promotion of Greek literature and culture during the Renaissance period.
In the 19th century, Kimera Mavrokordatos (1818-1892) was a Greek statesman and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 1854 to 1855. He was instrumental in the modernization and westernization efforts of the newly independent Greek state.
More recently, Kimera Papatheodorou (1930-2010) was a renowned Greek actress and theater director who had a prolific career spanning over six decades. She was recognized for her outstanding contributions to the performing arts and received numerous awards and honors throughout her lifetime.
While the name Kimera may have roots in Greek mythology and folklore, it has endured throughout history, carried by individuals who have made significant contributions across various fields, from philosophy and mathematics to military strategy, literature, and the performing arts.
People
Kimera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kimera 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
Kimera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kimera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kimera 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 14,902,363 US residents.
Is Kimera a common name?
We classify Kimera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 42.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 28 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kimera most popular?
The single biggest year for Kimera was 1957, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kimera is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kimera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 150 people with the name Kimera, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,340 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 Kimera 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 Kimera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kimera leans strongly female. 147 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Kimera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimera is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (38.7%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Kimera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kimera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (71 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 Kimera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kimera a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kimera 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 Kimera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kimera 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 Kimera 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 Kimera?
Find out how many people share the name Kimera on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.