Recorded 1912–2025 · United States
Kim was most popular in 1960, when 13,635 American babies were given the name — ranking #68 that year. In 2025 it ranked #6,507, with 40 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 214,768 people named Kim.
Kim first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1912, which makes it about 113 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 111 of the 114 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 214,768 American births named Kim between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 183,560 are estimated to be alive today.
40 American babies were named Kim in 2025, ranking #6,507 that year.
Kim is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 45 births a year, against 80 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -44% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Kim is mostly a girl’s name — 83.7% of the 214,768 Americans given it were girls and 16.3% were boys. It changed hands: since 1955 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 83% girls and 17% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 183,560 Americans named Kim are alive today — 85% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 64 years old, and half are between 59 and 68. That is a narrow band: Kim arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Old English · short form of Kimberly
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Kim on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org