Kim vs Kimberely
American parents have registered 214,768 Kims since 1880, against 2,300 Kimberelys. Kim is still ahead, with 40 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Kim Kimberely
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Kim has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1912 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 1994, when Kim had 207 and Kimberely had 18.
Side by side
| Kim | Kimberely | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 214,768 | 2,300 |
| Most in one year | 13,635 | 126 |
| Babies in 2025 | 40 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 181,000 | 2,100 |
| Median age today | 63 | 55 |
| Peak year | 1960 | 1970 |
| Best rank | 34th girls | 989th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 4,172nd | unranked |
| First recorded | 1912 | 1952 |
| Girls / boys | 179,817 / 34,951 | 2,300 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Kims alive today are over 63; half the Kimberelys are over 55. That is 8 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Kim Wisconsin (2.2×), Montana (1.7×), North Dakota (1.7×)
- Kimberely Ohio (2.4×), California (2.2×), Illinois (2.2×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Kim and Kimberely.