Kimberly

Where the name comes from

• English (place-name / surname adoption)
  No meaning as a personal name: a modern adoption of the place or surname Kimberley
  Kimberley, the Norfolk place that gave the 1st Earl of Kimberley his title; the South African city of Kimberley (founded 1871) was named for him
  etymonline: "apparently from the place or surname Kimberley." The English place-name (Norfolk, first recorded as Chineburlai in 1086) ends in Old English leah, "meadow, clearing in a woodland"; etymonline says the whole "seems to be" "clearing of a woman called Cyneburg." That gloss belongs to the village, not to the girl’s name.

Kimberly across traditions

• South African. The diamond-field camp was named after John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, then British colonial secretary. The town was created in 1878 and was besieged for 126 days in the South African War until relieved on February 15, 1900 (Britannica).
• Australian. The Kimberley region of northwest Australia is named for the same earl (etymonline).
• United States (SSA). 837,216 combined births, 1950s–2010s. Rose from #90 (1950s) to #5 in both the 1960s (259,072, peak decade) and the 1970s, then #17, #36, #56 and #113 (2010s). etymonline: "Not much known in U.S. before 1946; a top-10 name for girls born there 1964-1977."

Who carried it

• John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley (1826–1902): British Colonial Secretary 1870–1874 and 1880–1882; namesake of Kimberley, South Africa, and of the Kimberley region of Australia.

Forms in other languages

Kimberley, Kimberlee, Kimberleigh, Kim, Kimmy, Kimmie, Kimber

Kimberly in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.