Kimberly (also Kimberley or Kimmberly) is a male and female

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

of Old English origin.

John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley (7 January 18268 April 1902), known as The Lord Wodehouse from 1846 to 1866, was a British Liberal politician. He held office in every Liberal administration from 1852 to 1895, notably as Secretary of Stat ...

, a place in Norfolk, England, popularised the name by giving it to a town in South Africa and a region in Australia. The first element, '' Kimber'', reflects various Old English personal names; in the case of the Earldom in Norfolk this first appeared as Chineburlai in 1086 and seems to mean "clearing of a woman called Cyneburg (Cyneburga in Latin)". The second element is the Old English ''leah'' or ''leigh'' "meadow, clearing in a woodland"."Kimberley"
''Online Etymology Dictionary''

Origin of the given name

The given name ''Kimberley'' is derived from place of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, in

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

, South Africa. This South African place name was named after

Lord Kimberley Earl of Kimberley, of Kimberley in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1866 for the prominent Liberal politician John Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse. During his long political career, he not ...

in the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century, this place was the scene of fighting and a British victory during the Second Boer War, and consequently the given name was popularised in the English-speaking world. The name of Lord Kimberley's title is derived from

, in Norfolk, England. This place name is derived from two

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

elements: the first is the feminine

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

''Cyneburg'', which means "royal fortress"; the second element is ''lēah'', which means "woodland" or "clearing". The place name roughly means: the "woodland clearing of the royal fortress." This place name was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chineburlai''. which cited:

Variants

Kimberly is a

with many variants. ''Kimberley'' is used for males and females, while ''Kimberlee'', ''Kimberleigh'', and ''Kimberli'' are common feminine variant forms. The common Korean surname Kim is not related to Kimberley.

Notable people

Kimberly Anyadike Kimberly Anyadike (born 1994) is an American pilot from Compton, California. In 2009, at the age of 15, she became the youngest African American woman to complete a transcontinental flight across the United States, from Los Angeles, California ...

(born 1994), Nigerian-American aviator * Kimberly Brooks (born 1968), American voice actress *

Kimberly Brooks (artist) Kimberly Brooks () is an American artist and author. Her work blends figuration and abstraction with a focus on subjects related to memory, reality, history, representation, and identity. Early life and education Born in New York City as Kimberly ...

, American artist and author * Kimberley Chen (born 1994), Australian-born, Taiwanese singer of Malaysian descent *

Kimberly B. Cheney Kimberly B. Cheney (born November 25, 1935, in Manchester, CT) is an American lawyer and politician who served as Vermont's Attorney General from 1973 to 1975. Early life and career Kimberly B. Cheney is one of four sons born to Kimberly Chen ...

(born 1935), American lawyer *

Kim Chiu Kimberly Sue Yap Chiu (; born April 19, 1990), professionally known as Kim Chiu, is a Filipino actress, model, host, singer, dancer, and vlogger. She is currently managed by Star Magic, ABS-CBN's home-based talent agency. Recognized as one o ...

(born 1990), Filipino actress, singer * Kimberley Cooper (born 1980), Australian actress * Kimberly Davis (born 1974), American professional wrestler known by her ring name " Amber O'Neal" * Kim Deal (born 1961), American musician * Kimberly Elise (born 1967), American actress * Kimberly Goss (born 1978), American singer of Korean descent *

Kim Guadagno Kimberly Ann Guadagno (; ''née'' McFadden; born April 13, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the first lieutenant governor and 33rd secretary of state of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Guadagno was the Republican nominee f ...

(born 1959), New Jersey politician * Kimberly Guilfoyle (born 1969), American news reporter *

Kimberly Hampton Kimberly Nicole Hampton (August 18, 1976 – January 2, 2004) was a captain in the United States Army and the first female military pilot in United States history to be shot down and killed as a result of hostile fire. She was also the first wom ...

(1976-2004), United States Army officer *

Kimberly Hart-Simpson Kimberly Hart-Simpson (born 28 May 1987) is a Welsh actress and businesswoman, known for portraying the role of Nicky Wheatley in the ITV (TV channel), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. As well as being the founder of the fashion company Har ...

(born 1987), Welsh actress and businesswoman * Kim Hughes (born 1954), Australian cricketer *

Kimberly Jones Kimberly Latrice Jones () is an American author known for co-authoring the book ''I'm Not Dying With You Tonight'' and for the viral video ''How Can We Win'' published during the George Floyd protests. ''I'm Not Dying with You Tonight'' Jones ...

, American author * Kimberly "Kim" Kardashian (born 1980), American entertainer *

Kimberly Keeton Kimberly Kristine Keeton is an American computer scientist specializing in databases and computer data storage. She worked at HP Labs as a Distinguished Technologist and is currently employed by Google as Principal Engineer, and was one of the desi ...

, American computer scientist * Kim Matula (born 1988), American actress * Kimberly Poore Moser (born 1962), American politician from Kentucky * Kimberley Nixon (born 1986), Welsh actress *

Kimberly A. Novick Kimberly A. Novick is an environmental scientist and an Associate professor at Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington. Her research mostly includes the study of land-atmosphere interactions. She received the Thomas Hilker ...

, American environmental scientist * Kymberly Pine (born 1970), State of Hawaii House of Representatives *

Kimberly Powers Kimberly A. Powers is an American epidemiologist who is an associate professor of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She combines epidemiology, statistics and mathematical modelling to understand the transmission of ...

, American epidemiologist * Kimberley Rew (born 1951), British guitarist and singer in

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band widely known for the 1985 hit " Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Love Shine a Light". History Pre-history (1975–1980) The band's earliest inc ...

* Kimberly “Kim” Rhode (born 1979), American double trap and skeet shooter *

Kim Shattuck Kimberly Dianne Shattuck (July 17, 1963 – October 2, 2019) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. She was the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the American punk rock band the Muffs, which formed in 1991. From ...

(1963-2019), American musician * Kim Taylor (born 1978), American politician from Virginia *

Kimberly Tuck Kimberly Tuck ( Veale; born September 25, 1974) is a Canadian curling, curler from Strathroy, Ontario. She is a former Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, Canadian Mixed Doubles Champion, having won the 2014 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curlin ...

(born 1974), Canadian curler * Kimberley Walsh (born 1981), English singer in the girl band Girls Aloud * Kimberly Williams-Paisley (born 1971), American actress *

Kimberley Anne Woltemas Kimberley Anne Woltemas Tiamsiri ( th, คิมเบอร์ลี แอน โวลเทมัส เทียมศิริ; born January 22, 1992) is a Thai actress and model. She made her breakthrough in acting career after she played ...

(born 1992), Thai actress and model *

Kimberly Wyatt Kimberly Kaye Wyatt (born February 4, 1982) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She is a former member of the pop/ R&B girl group and dance ensemble The Pussycat Dolls. She is also a member of the ...

(born 1982), member of The Pussycat Dolls * Kim Zolciak-Biermann (born 1978), American singer and reality star from '' The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' *

Kitty Brucknell Kimberley Dayle Edwards (born 15 November 1984), formerly known professionally as Kitty Brucknell, is an English pop singer. She rose to fame as a finalist on the eighth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2011, where she finished in seventh place. ...

(born Kimberley Dayle Edwards, 1984), English singer-songwriter * Kym Marsh (born 1976), English actress *

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...

(born Kimberley Denise Jones, 1974), singer

Fictional characters

Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated action comedy-adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The title character is a teenage girl tasked with fighting crime on a regular basis while coping wi ...

, a character in the television series of the same name * Kimberly Andrews on the television series ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'' * Kimberly "Kim" Bauer, a character in the television series '' 24'' * Kimberly "Kim" Burgess, a character in the television series Chicago P.D. * Kimberly Corman, a character in the film '' Final Destination 2'' *

Kimberly Hart Kimberly Ann Hart is a fictional character in the ''Power Rangers'' universe. Played by American actress Amy Jo Johnson during the first three seasons of the show, plus on the two feature films of the franchise, Kimberly has the longest tenure of ...

, a character in the '' Power Rangers'' franchise * Kimberly "Kim" Hyde, a character in the television series ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

'' * Kimberly "Kim" Pine, a character in the series of graphic stories '' Scott Pilgrim'' * Kimberly Cougar "Kimmy" Schmidt, a character in the television series ''

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' is an American streaming television sitcom created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, starring Ellie Kemper in the title role. It premiered on March 6, 2015, on Netflix and ran for four seasons, ending on January 25, 20 ...

'' * Kimberly Shaw in the television series ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in ...

'' * Kimberly Swan (commonly referred to as Ki Swan), a character in the web television series ''

Video Game High School ''Video Game High School'' (often abbreviated ''VGHS'') is an American action comedy web series from RocketJump Studios. It was written by Matthew Arnold, Will Campos and Brian Firenzi and directed by Matthew Arnold, Brandon Laatsch, and Freddie ...

'' * Kimberly "Kim" Wexler, a character in the television series ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, '' Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimberly (Given Name) Given names Feminine given names English feminine given names English-language feminine given names English-language unisex given names

Origin of the given name

Variants

Notable people

Fictional characters

See also

References