Kym
A feminine name of English origin, a modern variation of Kimberly.
Name Census estimates that about 1,210 living Americans carry the first name Kym. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Kym today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kym births was 1959 (139 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kym. 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 Kym with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 283,268 Americans
Peak year
1959
139 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1996 SSA rank
#9,881
Tracked since 1950
Census
Kym in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,705 people with the first name Kym, which placed it at #6,050 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
#6,050
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,705 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kym
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kym is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Kym 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 Kym at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.7% · 1,830
- Black or African American18.2% · 493
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 139
- Two or more races4.5% · 121
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 100
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Kym
Kym leans heavily female at 88.2% of total registrations, but 173 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kym as a male name
- Ranked #9,881 in 1996
- 5 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1959 (41 births)
Kym as a female name
- Ranked #14,890 in 2003
- 6 female births in 2003
- Peak: 1959 (98 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kym leans strongly female. 2,407 people counted with this name were female (89.3%), compared with 287 male bearers (10.7%).
Popularity
Kym: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kym from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 653 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
Kym 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 Kym during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kyms live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Kym, while Massachusetts, Indiana, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kym
The name Kym is a modern English variant of the ancient Greek name Kyma, meaning "wave" or "billow." This name originated in the coastal regions of Greece, where the ebb and flow of the tides played a significant role in daily life.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kyma can be traced back to the 5th century BC, where it appears in several ancient Greek texts and records. It was a popular name among families living near the Aegean Sea, reflecting their close connection to the ocean.
In the Christian tradition, the name Kyma is associated with the biblical figure St. Kyma, a 3rd-century martyr who was known for her unwavering faith and courage in the face of persecution. Her story is recounted in the "Acta Sanctorum," a collection of biographies of Christian saints.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kym was Kym of Alexandria, a renowned philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 3rd century AD. She made significant contributions to the field of geometry and is credited with developing several geometric proofs.
In the Middle Ages, the name Kym appeared sporadically in various European regions, often taking on slightly different spellings such as Kim or Kym. One notable figure from this period was Kym the Scribe, a 12th-century calligrapher and illuminator who worked on several important manuscripts for the Church.
During the Renaissance, the name Kym gained popularity among artists and intellectuals. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Kym Fiore, an Italian painter and sculptor who lived from 1445 to 1520. Her masterpieces can still be found in various museums across Italy.
In the 19th century, the name Kym resurfaced in literature and literature circles. Kym Brontë, a lesser-known sister of the famous Brontë sisters, was a talented poet and writer who lived from 1815 to 1848. Her works, though not as widely recognized as those of her siblings, are still studied by scholars of English literature.
Another notable figure with the name Kym was Kym Nightingale, a British nurse and social reformer who lived from 1820 to 1910. She played a crucial role in improving the standards of healthcare and nursing practices in Victorian England, inspiring generations of healthcare professionals.
People
Kym + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kym 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
Kym: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kym?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,210 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kym 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 283,268 US residents.
Is Kym a common name?
We classify Kym as "Rare". It ranks above 91.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,470 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kym most popular?
The single biggest year for Kym was 1959, when 139 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kym is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kym in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,705 people with the name Kym, or 0.90 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,050 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 Kym 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 Kym?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kym leans strongly female. 2,407 people counted with this name were female (89.3%), compared with 287 male bearers (10.7%). 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 Kym?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kym is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Black (18.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Kym most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kym in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.7% (1,830 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 Kym in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kym a female name?
Yes, 88.2% of people registered as Kym 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 Kym still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kym 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 Kym 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 have Kym as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Kym, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.