Name Awesome

Kimball

#11,401 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Possibly chief + war

Kimball has been given to 2,148 babies in the U.S. since 1914. In 2025 it ranked #11,401 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1954, with 66 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 93% boys, 7% girls all-time.

Babies named Kimball, 2025

1 in 553,000

Kimball over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Kimball over time

In 2025, Kimball went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19142025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Kimball: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly chief + war

surname transfer

What Kimball means

Kimball may mean “chief + war”, associated with cyn and bel.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old Welsh Cynbel, from cyn (“chief”) + bel (“war”). Possibly also from Old English Cynebeald.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Kimball (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Kimball is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Kimball comes through Old Welsh Cynbel and Old English Cynebeald.

Kimball is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,008 boys were recorded with the name Kimball between 1914 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 66 in 1954; its best national rank was #910 in 1954.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #9,173 in 2020 to #11,401 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,894 in 2015 to #11,401 in 2025.

In the United States, 140 girls were recorded with the name Kimball between 1951 and 2014. Its highest annual count was 17 in 1957; its best national rank was #2,871 in 1957.

How common is Kimball?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 285,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#11,401
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kimball sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kimball. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kimballs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kimball was born before 1965 — so the typical Kimball is around 60 today.

Median birth year
1965
About 60 years old
Biggest decade
1950s
23.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
22.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,665
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1950s — 23.4% of all recorded uses (469).

Is Kimball rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−5,062
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,228
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−4,507
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.50×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
9.1%
Peak was 1954 (66)
Years since peak
71
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
27.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#910
1954

Spellings of Kimball

Kimball is the most-used spelling, taking 77.0% of the 2,609 babies given a near-identical spelling.

  • Kimball77.0%2,008
  • Kimble23.0%601

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Kimball is used

Across 1910–2025, Kimball was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 5,263 boys, against 1 in 111,411 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

019 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 5,263
  2. 2Idaho1 in 100,000
  3. 3Arizona1 in —
  4. 4California1 in —
  5. 5New York1 in —
  6. 6Ohio1 in —
  7. 7Washington1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Kimball has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Kimball around the world

Where Kimball ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2000–2000
    #3,036
    in 2000
  • South Australia
    1951–1959
    #464
    in 1959

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Kimball

People whose public names include Kimball, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Kimball by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#11,401
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,228
Best rank ever
#910
1954
Peak year
1954
66 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,008
Count in 2025
6

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,871
1957
Peak year
1957
17 that year
First recorded
1951
Last recorded
2014
All-time count
140
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kimball

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KimaniWendallKimberJamallKimariKimoniKimberlyNiallConallKimbleRondallKimothyKendallKimiHallKimoLyndallKimathiLyallMccallKimmieKimmyKyndallDarrall

Names with a curve like Kimball

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Kimball, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

DannielRandRockKenneySkipGilRandelRandleStevanRudolfoWaydeCris

Sibling names for Kimball

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Kimball

Top names of 1954, Kimball's peak yearThe 1950s in fullOther names that peaked in 1954Boys' names starting with K