Kim

Where Kim comes from

Clipping of Kimball and Kimberley as a male name, and of Kimberley and Kimberly as a female name.
— Wiktionary's entry for Kim
  • 1 syllable
Kim through the years
  1. 1914
    First appearance
    #3,618 among girls with 5 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1953
    Kim Basinger born
    American actress
  3. 1955
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
  4. 1960
    Peak, #34
    12,477 babies named Kim, the most in any year.
  5. 1968
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #57.
  6. 1983
    Kim Clijsters born
    Belgian tennis player
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name.
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
  • A female given name transferred from the surname, of 1940s and later usage.
Namesakes
  • Kim Basinger · American actress, born 1953
  • Kim Clijsters · Belgian tennis player, born 1983
  • Kim Campbell · 19th Prime Minister of Canada in 1993, born 1947
  • Kim Novak · American actress, born 1933
  • Kim Cattrall · British–Canadian actress, born 1956

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.