Kymberly
Feminine name of English origin with elements meaning "royal settlement".
Name Census estimates that about 2,828 living Americans carry the first name Kymberly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kymberly today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kymberly births was 1987 (109 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kymberly. 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 Kymberly with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 121,200 Americans
Peak year
1987
109 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,815
Tracked since 1955
Census
Kymberly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,436 people with the first name Kymberly, which placed it at #5,105 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
#5,105
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,436 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kymberly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kymberly is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Kymberly 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 Kymberly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.1% · 2,307
- Black or African American14.6% · 502
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 372
- Two or more races4.9% · 169
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 31
Popularity
Kymberly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kymberly from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 816 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kymberly 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 Kymberly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kymberlys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kymberly, while South Carolina, Oregon, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kymberly
The name Kymberly has its origins in the Welsh language and culture, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a feminine form of the name Kimberly, which is derived from the Old English words "cyn" meaning "royal" and "beorg" meaning "meadow" or "hill." The name was likely first used in Wales as a descriptive term for a royal or noble meadow or hill.
In the 13th century, the name Kimberly appeared in historical records in Wales, often referring to geographic locations rather than personal names. It wasn't until the 16th and 17th centuries that the name began to be used as a given name for people, particularly in England and Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kymberly is found in the writings of the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. In his play "The Winter's Tale," written in 1611, there is a character named Kymberly, though it is unclear whether Shakespeare was using it as a personal name or a place name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kymberly. One of the earliest was Kymberly Browne (1554-1616), an English philosopher and writer during the Renaissance period. She was known for her works on ethics and morality.
Another prominent figure was Kymberly Livingstone (1673-1738), a Scottish explorer and missionary who traveled extensively in Africa and documented her experiences in a series of journals and letters.
In the 19th century, Kymberly Nightingale (1820-1910) was a British nurse and social reformer who is known for her pioneering work in improving healthcare conditions during the Crimean War. She is considered the founder of modern nursing.
The name also has a connection to the arts, with Kymberly Austen (1775-1817), the famous English novelist and author of works such as "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma."
Finally, Kymberly Pankhurst (1858-1928) was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement, which campaigned for women's right to vote in the early 20th century.
People
Kymberly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kymberly 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
Kymberly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kymberly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,828 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kymberly 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 121,200 US residents.
Is Kymberly a common name?
We classify Kymberly as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,045 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kymberly most popular?
The single biggest year for Kymberly was 1987, when 109 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kymberly is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kymberly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,436 people with the name Kymberly, or 1.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,105 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 Kymberly 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 Kymberly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kymberly appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,433 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Kymberly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kymberly is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Kymberly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kymberly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (2,307 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 Kymberly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kymberly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kymberly 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 Kymberly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kymberly 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 Kymberly 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 Kymberly as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Kymberly on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.