US Name Trends

Kim

A short form of Kimberly; Kipling’s Kim was separately a short form of Kimball.

1960peak year
No. 34best rank (1960)
214,768babies since 1880
outside top 1000 in 2025

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Kim per year — peak 12,477▬ girls ▬ boys18801900192019401960198020002020

Kim first shows up in the national records in 1912. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in every year from 1955 to 1970. Its biggest year was 1960, when 12,477 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 34 nationally. The name has also seen real use for boys: 34,951 of the 214,768 Americans given the name since 1880.

Related names

Other spellings on record: Kym (1,470) (total births since 1880)

Other names that share a story: Kimberly

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By the decade

DecadeBirthsBest rank
1910s5No. 3618
1920s57No. 2437
1930s209No. 1250
1940s1,285No. 513
1950s56,080No. 35
1960s94,388No. 34
1970s20,697No. 78
1980s3,816No. 381
1990s1,600No. 787
2000s875No. 1542
2010s587No. 2078
2020s218No. 3735

Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.

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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.