Kimberly
It started as an English place name, Kimberley, built from old words for a royal fortress and a meadow. In Poland the name stays rare: most Poles have never met one, and it goes only to girls.
Kimberly Pronunciation
Kimberly is pronounced keem-BER-lih (/kimˈbɛrlɨ/).
What Kimberly means
Where Kimberly comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Kimberly began as an English place name, Kimberley, recorded in Norfolk and Nottinghamshire. Its roots are Germanic, from Old English: cyne, royal, burg, a fortress, and leah, a meadow or clearing. Together they give the meaning still attached to the name, royal fortress meadow.
The place wore the name long before people did. Kimberley in South Africa drew the world's attention during the diamond rush of the 1870s and the siege of 1899 to 1900 in the Boer War. British newspapers printed the word daily, and it crossed over into use as a given name.
For decades Kimberly belonged to boys and girls alike. By the 1960s, across the English-speaking world, it had settled mostly on girls. The name has no Polish diminutive.
A Polish child called Kimberly today reads her name on the class register spelled the English way, with no Polish short form to fall back on. What stays constant is the old sense underneath, royal fortress meadow.
How many people are named Kimberly
1 in 127366 women in Poland is named Kimberly. 177 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2392 among female names.
Kimberly's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been climbing since 2025.
Kimberly as a middle name
Kimberly is a first name for 177 women in Poland and a middle name for another 49, a 78/22 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 979th, between Janine (49) and Kwiryna (49).
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#977 Ita49
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#978 Janine49
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#979 Kimberly49
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#980 Kwiryna49
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#981 Leopoldyna49