Kimberlie
Feminine · “Cyneburg's clearing”
Kimberly was a boys' name first. It arrived in American use in the 1940s attached to sons, crossed to daughters within about a decade, and then became so thoroughly a woman's name that the earlier use is now invisible. Very few names complete that crossing so completely or so fast, and this spelling belongs to the years just after it happened.
How old is the name Kimberlie?
Kimberlie first appears in US birth records in 1951 — 74 years ago. The typical Kimberlie alive today was born around 1973, making them about 52 years old. About 3,400 people named Kimberlie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kimberlie most popular?
Kimberlie peaked in 1965, reaching #862 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,346 places below that high. See the whole 1965 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Cyneburg leah to Kimberlie
The story of Kimberlie
The crossing from boys to girls happened quickly and can be watched in the records: Kimberly appears for sons in the 1940s, is given to both by the early 1950s, and is overwhelmingly a daughter's name by 1960. What drove it is not certain — a film character is usually credited — but the effect was decisive, and by the 1960s it was among the most-given women's names in the country. The -ie ending on this version is the standard American way of marking a name as a daughter's, applied to a name that had just become one anyway.
Meaning
Cyneburg's clearing
From the Nottinghamshire village, which joins the Old English woman's name Cyneburg — royal fortress — to leah, a clearing. The name reached general use by way of a colonial title and a South African diamond town, so the English meaning is three removes from how anyone actually met the word.
How the name formed
- Cyneburg leah
- Kimberley
- Kimberlie
Pronouncing Kimberlie
KIM-ber-lee
Three syllables, stress on the first. Kimberly, Kimberlee, Kimberlie and Kimberleigh are all said identically; only the last three letters differ, and only on paper.
Nicknames for Kimberlie
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
- 1951
- Most girls named
- 1970147 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #862reached in 1965
- Change vs 2024
- +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.
Kimberlies among us
people named Kimberlie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Kimberlie
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 Lorenza test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kimberlie's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lorenza climbed just as high around 1903, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lorenza's path sketches the road Kimberlie is walking now.
Kimberlie 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
Kimberlie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kimberlie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kim is available immediately and needs no explanation anywhere.
- It is completely readable on sight.
- The place name behind it is documented and has an unusually interesting route into English.
- Kimberly is the standard spelling and will be written on nearly everything.
- The name family dates a woman's birth to within a decade or so.
- Four spellings of the ending are in circulation, so the letters have to be given every time.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kimberlie
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kimberlies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,400 people named Kimberlie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kimberlie in 2025?
- Kimberlie ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kimberlie?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Kimberlie — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kimberlie with classmates?
- Kimberlie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kimberlie
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 Kimberlie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kimberlie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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