Kimberleigh
Feminine · “Cyneburg's clearing”
Kimberly is a diamond town. Diamonds were found in South Africa in 1871 and the settlement that grew around the diggings was named for a British colonial secretary, Lord Kimberley — who took his own title from a village in Nottinghamshire. The rush made the word famous across the English-speaking world, and English-speaking parents started using it. The -leigh ending here is borrowed from a different set of names entirely.
How old is the name Kimberleigh?
Kimberleigh first appears in US birth records in 1956 — 69 years ago. The typical Kimberleigh alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 700 people named Kimberleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kimberleigh most popular?
Kimberleigh peaked in 1966, reaching #3148 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 10,060 places below that high. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Cyneburg leah to Kimberleigh
The story of Kimberleigh
The Kimberley diamond field produced the largest hand-dug excavation in the world and made the word familiar everywhere. The name entered American use afterward, first for boys — which surprises people — and crossed to girls in the 1940s and 1950s, becoming one of the great American women's names of the 1960s and 1970s. The -leigh spelling of the ending arrived later, borrowed from Ashleigh and Hayleigh, where it was already doing the work of marking a name as a daughter's.
Meaning
Cyneburg's clearing
The English village behind the title joins a woman's name, Cyneburg, to the Old English leah, a clearing — the same element behind Ashley, Shirley and hundreds of place names. Cyneburg means royal fortress. So the name means the clearing that belonged to a woman named for a stronghold, which is a long way from a diamond mine.
How the name formed
- Cyneburg leah
- Kimberley
- Kimberly
- Kimberleigh
Pronouncing Kimberleigh
KIM-ber-lee
Three syllables, stress on the first. The -leigh ending is said as a plain lee — the gh is silent, exactly as it is in Leigh, Ashleigh and Raleigh.
Nicknames for Kimberleigh
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1956
- Most girls named
- 199526 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3148reached in 1966
- Change vs 2023
- +20.0%6 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kimberleighs among us
people named Kimberleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Kimberleigh
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Mery test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kimberleigh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mery climbed just as high around 1937, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mery's path sketches the road Kimberleigh is walking now.
Kimberleigh sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Kimberleigh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kimberleigh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kim and Leigh are both complete names, so it shortens two very different ways.
- The English place name behind it is documented and has a woman's name inside it.
- It is entirely readable on sight despite the extra letters.
- Kimberly is the standard American spelling and will be substituted constantly.
- Eleven letters is a great deal to dictate, and the -leigh will be questioned every time.
- The name family belongs to a specific American generation and dates a woman accordingly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Kimberleigh to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Kimberleigh? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Kimberleigh
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kimberleighs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Kimberleigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kimberleigh in 2025?
- Kimberleigh ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kimberleigh?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Kimberleigh — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kimberleigh with classmates?
- Kimberleigh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kimberleigh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kimberleigh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kimberleigh and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle