unisex name
Kim
KIM
- Origin English
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 1
- Letters 3
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 230,581
Northern Ireland
#557
2012 births
Kim is a name that arrives from three unrelated directions — an English place name, Kipling's 1901 novel, and the most common Korean surname in the world. About 84 percent of the births in our records are female.
- Kim is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1960, when 13,635 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 82,884 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1912.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Kim over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 27 |
| 1920s | 123 |
| 1930s | 519 |
| 1940s | 4,007 |
| 1950s | 77,288 |
| 1960s | 101,576 |
| 1970s | 22,515 |
| 1980s | 4,727 |
| 1990s | 2,007 |
| 2000s | 1,025 |
| 2010s | 680 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 274 |
What Kim means
Kim has no single meaning. Through Kimberly it means Cyneburg's field; the Korean 김 means gold; and Kipling's character is nicknamed from Kimball O'Hara, an Irish surname.
Where Kim comes from
Kim converges from three sources. As a short form of Kimberly it carries an English place name, Cyneburg's clearing, by way of a South African diamond town. Kipling's 1901 novel Kim gave the standalone name its first real currency in English, its hero being Kimball O'Hara, an orphan in colonial India. And Kim is the romanisation of the Korean 김, meaning gold, borne by roughly a fifth of all Koreans and the most common surname on earth. Its use as a girls' name in English is twentieth-century and owes most to Kim Novak, who was born Marilyn.
Kim in use
Kim peaked in the United States in 1960, when 13,635 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1479th in France on 35 births, 3698th in England and Wales and 4263rd in the United States on 40, across 230,581 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. About 84 percent of recorded births are female. France now gives it much the strongest position of the three.
How popular is Kim?
In 2025, Kim was given to 40 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Kim is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Kim
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kim also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kim over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Kim in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Kim
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kim — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kim
What does the name Kim mean?
It depends on the source — Cyneburg's field through Kimberly, gold in Korean, or a shortening of Kipling's Kimball O'Hara.
Is Kim a Korean name?
Kim romanises 김, meaning gold — the most common surname in the world, borne by roughly a fifth of Koreans. It is a separate name.
Is Kim short for Kimberly?
Often, and it is also used as a full name in its own right.
Is Kim a boys' or girls' name?
About 84 percent of the births in our records are female.
How popular is the name Kim?
In 2025, Kim was given to 40 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
How many syllables are in Kim?
Kim has 1 syllable.
When was Kim most popular?
Kim peaked in 1960, when 13,635 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
Is Kim a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kim currently ranks #1,479 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.