Kim
Kim was the 4228th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 34 babies. Its best year was 1960, when it ranked 34th with 12,477 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,712 places. More babies were named Kim in the 1960s than in any other decade.
Meaning short form of Kimberly or Kimball · English
Say it KIM /kɪm/
- Rank in 2025
- #4,228 girls, down 478 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 34girls
- Girls and boys
- 80% girls, 20% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 196012,477 babies
- Total since 1880
- 214,768babies recorded
What does the name Kim mean?
Kim is a clipping of Kimball and Kimberley as a boys' name and of Kimberly as a girls' name, as Wiktionary notes. Kimberly comes from the diamond town of Kimberley in South Africa, named after Lord Kimberley, whose title was from an English place name. Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim (1901), whose hero is Kimball O'Hara, made the boys' name known. The Korean surname Kim, meaning 'gold' (金), is unrelated.
Kimberley (English, “place name”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Kimberly, Kimball, Kimber.
See also: English names, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Kim', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Kimberly', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
Kim popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,228 | #11,404 | 34 | 6 |
| 2020 | #3,750 | #7,828 | 39 | 10 |
| 2010 | #3,181 | #8,489 | 52 | 9 |
| 2000 | #1,546 | #4,306 | 116 | 18 |
| 1990 | #787 | #1,374 | 256 | 66 |
| 1980 | #383 | #830 | 602 | 113 |
| 1970 | #78 | #456 | 4,729 | 318 |
| 1960 | #34 | #237 | 12,477 | 1,158 |
| 1950 | #481 | #232 | 285 | 795 |
| 1940 | #1,363 | #763 | 31 | 66 |
| 1930 | #3,198 | #3,447 | 9 | 7 |
| 1920 | #5,362 | — | 5 | — |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Kim, counting every spelling?
Kim has no other common spelling that sounds the same.
How many kids will share the name Kim?
34 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Kim (0.01 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Kim born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 247 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Kim.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Kim?
About 155,000 people born in the US named Kim are alive today, with a median age of 63; half are between 59 and 67. That makes Kim a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Kim by state
How common Kim was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New York (2.5×). In 47 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Kim: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Kim, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Kim · Sibling names for Kim
Kim is also a nickname for Kimberly and Kimber.
Questions about the name Kim
What does Kim mean?
Kim means “short form of Kimberly or Kimball” (English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Kim?
Kim was the 4228th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 34 babies. Its best year was 1960, when it ranked 34th with 12,477 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 1,712 places. More babies were named Kim in the 1960s than in any other decade.
Is Kim a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 80% girls, 20% boys given the name Kim in the US.
Where is Kim most popular?
In 2021–2025, Kim was most common in New York (0.06 per 1,000 girls), followed by California and Florida.