Kimi
Feminine · “Sovereign”
Kimi is given to both — 1,819 girls and 299 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Kimi is Japanese for a sovereign, and it is also — and much more often in American records — a short form of Kimberly. The two arrived by entirely separate roads and the American peak in 1965 sits with the second.
How old is the name Kimi?
Kimi first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Kimi alive today was born around 1973, making them about 52 years old. About 1,600 people named Kimi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kimi most popular?
Kimi peaked in 1965, reaching #1350 nationally. Today it ranks #5410, 4,060 places below that high. See the whole 1965 chart.
Where it comes from
From 君 to Kimi
Our story of Kimi
The two histories here are worth keeping apart. Japanese Kimi is old and ordinary and appears in names like Kimiko, and it reached American records with Japanese-American families from the late nineteenth century. Kimberly is an English place name that became a boys' name and then, from the 1940s, a girls' one; it rose to become one of the most popular American girls' names of the 1960s and 1970s. That rise produced short forms — Kim, Kimmie, Kimi — and Kimi's American peak in 1965 sits precisely inside it. So a Kimi born in 1965 is statistically far more likely to be a Kimberly than a Japanese name, and a Kimi born in 1920 is likely to be the reverse.
Meaningscholars disagree
Sovereign, lord, if Japanese
Japanese kimi, written 君, means a lord or sovereign and is used in names and as a form of address; that reading is settled for the Japanese name. As an American short form Kimi belongs to Kimberly, an English place name from Cyneburg's field — Cyneburg being a woman's name meaning royal fortress. Both roads therefore reach a sense of royalty independently, which is a coincidence.
How the name formed
- 君
- Kimi
Related forms: きみ · Kimi · Kimberly
Pronouncing Kimi
KIM-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Japanese gives the two syllables equal weight rather than stressing one; the Finnish Kimi, familiar from motor racing, is said the same way as the English.
Nicknames for Kimi
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
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 195951 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1350reached in 1965
- Change vs 2023
- +91.7%23 in 2025, from 12
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.
Kimi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- きみ in Japanese — transliteration
- Kimi in Finnish — related form
- Kimberly in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Kimis among us
people named Kimi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 69,881 born in 2025 was named Kimi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kimi
- #5410
- Kimi on the 2025 chart
- #932
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kimi went to 23 girls in 2025, but Kimmy is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 28, which makes it the 932nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,478 places above the chart.
- Kimi23
- Kimmy5
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 69,881 for Kimi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marcille test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kimi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marcille climbed just as high around 1923, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marcille's path sketches the road Kimi is walking now.
Kimi 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
Kimi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kimi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, about as compact as a name gets.
- Kim is available as a complete name and a very familiar one.
- Everyone can say it after one hearing.
- It reads as a short form of Kimberly to nearly every American.
- The Japanese meaning does not attach to the American use.
- It is closely dated to the 1960s and 1970s in American ears.
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What they receive
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Kimi
Feminine · #5410 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kimis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Kimi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kimi?
- Kimi is the most-used spelling in US records — 23 of the 28 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kimmy.
- How popular is the name Kimi in 2025?
- Kimi ranks #5410 among US girl names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kimi?
- About 1 in every 69,881 US girls born in 2025 was named Kimi — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kimi with classmates?
- Kimi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kimi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aina#5410 · Sherry#5410 · Kathia#5410 · Taj#5410 · Analicia#5410 · Divya#5410 · Halimah#5410 · Leo#5410
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kimi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kimi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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