Kimbely
A feminine name of English origin meaning "from the royal meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 385 living Americans carry the first name Kimbely. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kimbely today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kimbely births was 1968 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kimbely. 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.
People living today
385
~ 1 in 890,271 Americans
Peak year
1968
24 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1993 SSA rank
#14,623
Tracked since 1958
Census
Kimbely in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 476 people with the first name Kimbely, which placed it at #21,371 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
#21,371
National first-name rank
People counted
476
476 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kimbely
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimbely is White at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and Black (19.1%). 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 Kimbely 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 Kimbely at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.9% · 247
- Hispanic or Latino21.8% · 104
- Black or African American19.1% · 91
- Two or more races3.8% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Popularity
Kimbely: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kimbely from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 160 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kimbely 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 Kimbely 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 Kimbely
The name Kimbely is an English name that originated in the late 19th century. It is believed to be a combination of the given name Kim, a diminutive of the name Kimberly, and the suffix "-ly" which was commonly added to feminine names during that time period. The name Kimberly itself derives from the Old English words "cyning" meaning king and "beorht" meaning bright or shining.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Kimbely can be found in the 1891 book "The Inglenook Doctor's Book of Herbs and Old-Time Remedies" by Dr. Harvey Wickes Felter. In this book, a character named Kimbely is mentioned, though little is known about the inspiration behind this particular name usage.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Kimbely. Kimbely Jacobson (1892-1972) was an American painter and illustrator known for her work in the Art Deco style. Kimbely Peirce (1923-1998) was a British author and poet who wrote several critically acclaimed works during her lifetime.
In the realm of politics, Kimbely Archer (1936-2021) was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the House of Commons from 1984 to 1993. Kimbely Woodruff (1947-2018) was an American journalist and television news anchor, best known for her work with CBS News.
Perhaps one of the most famous individuals with the name Kimbely was Kimbely Townsend (1962-present), an American actress and model who rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s through her appearances in various television shows and films.
While the name Kimbely has been used throughout history, it is important to note that its popularity has fluctuated over time, with periods of higher and lower usage. However, the name remains a unique and intriguing choice, carrying with it a rich history and a blend of linguistic influences.
People
Kimbely + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kimbely 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
Kimbely: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kimbely?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 385 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kimbely 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 890,271 US residents.
Is Kimbely a common name?
We classify Kimbely as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 433 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kimbely most popular?
The single biggest year for Kimbely was 1968, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kimbely is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kimbely in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 476 people with the name Kimbely, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,371 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 Kimbely 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 Kimbely?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kimbely appears almost entirely female. Of the 476 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 Kimbely?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kimbely is White at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and Black (19.1%). 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 Kimbely most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kimbely in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.9% (247 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 Kimbely in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kimbely a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kimbely 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 Kimbely still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kimbely 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 Kimbely 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 Kimbely as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Kimbely, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.