Given name & surname
Kimball
“chief of the warriors; possessing royal boldness”·“one who leads warriors”
Kimball is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “chief of the warriors; possessing royal boldness” (English) and “one who leads warriors” (English). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “chief of the warriors; possessing royal boldness” (English) and “one who leads warriors” (English). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Old Welsh Cynbel, from Old English Cynebeald.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kimball through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,148
- 2,008 boys · 140 girls
- Most popular year
- 1954
- 66 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #11,405 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −30%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 11,405 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 29.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 66 in 1954. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,870 as a first name in 2020; 22,663 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Kimball’s family of names
In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Kimball has a diminutive in Kim. Kimball has a related form in Kimble. In German usage, Kimball has a short form in Kim.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Kimball has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its English roots to each of them.
Englishwhere Kimball comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Kimball
- Kim ReynierseOlympic athleteborn 1961
- Kimball AllenAmerican writerborn 1982
- Kimbi DanielsCanadian ice hockey playerborn 1972
Characters named Kimball: Kimball Cho (American crime drama).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Kimball, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kington
“king”
—
Kingswood
“king”
—
Kingstone
“king's” · “fort, manor, town”
>99% boys
Cerdic
“a king”
>99% boys
Kenway
“a brave or royal warrior”
>99% boys
Calibur
“in Arthurian legend, King Arthur's sword”
>99% boys
Kennington
“royal”
88% boys · 12% girls
Conybeare
“king”
—