Kim is a unisex given name. It is also used as a diminutive or nickname for names such as Kimber, Kimberly, Kimberley, Kimball and Kimiko. In Kenya, it is short for various male names such as Kimutai and Kimani. In Vietnam, it is also a unisex name.
Contents
History
A notable use of the name was the fictional street urchin Kimball O'Hara in Rudyard Kipling's book Kim, published in 1901. The name is also found in the opening of Edna Ferber's 1926 novel Show Boat, whose female protagonist, Magnolia names her baby daughter Kim; the name was inspired by the convergence of the three states Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri – where the child was born.
From the 1900s to the 1960s, the name Kim was mainly given to boys, despite the use of this name for both male and female characters in popular literature and, later, movies of the time. In Scandinavia, Kim can more often be used as a male name in its own right, being a common short form of Joakim.
In Russia Ким (Kim) is a diminutive/nickname of Ioakim (Russian: Иоаким), "Joachim". Its popularity in the early Soviet era was due to being reinterpreted as the acronym for Коммунистический Интернационал Молодежи (Kommunistichesky Internatsional Molodyozhi, Young Communist International).
People
A
Kim Aas (born 1970), Danish politician
Kim Amb (born 1990), Swedish track and field athlete
Kim Anderzon (1943–2014), Swedish actress
Kim Appleby (born 1961), English singer
Kim Atienza (born 1967), Filipino entertainer
B
Kim Barnett (born 1960), former English cricketer
Kim Basinger (born 1953), American actress
Kim Batiste (1968–2020), American baseball player
Kim Beattie (born 1998), British gymnast
Kim Beazley Sr. (1917–2007), Australian politician
Kim Beazley (born 1948), Australian politician
Kim Bodnia (born 1965), Danish actor and director
Kim Boekbinder, Canadian musician
Kim Bokamper (born 1954), American former professional football player
Kim Brooks (born 1968), American Voice actress
Kim Boutin (born 1994), Canadian short track speed skater
C
Kim Cadzow (born 2001, New Zealand racing cyclist
Kim Campbell (born 1947), Canadian politician
Kim Carnes (born 1945), American singer
Kim Carr (born 1955), Australian former politician
Kim Cascone (born 1955), Italian American electronic music composer
Kim Cattrall (born 1956), Canadian actress
Kim Chambers (born 1974), American pornographic actress
Kim Chiu (born 1990), Filipino actress and singer
Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls (born 1968), American professional bodybuilder
Kim Clijsters (born 1983), Belgian former professional tennis player
Kim Cloutier (born 1987), Canadian-American model
Kim Coates (born 1958), Canadian actor
D
Kim Deal (born 1961), American musician
Kim Deitch (born 1944), American cartoonist
Kim Yi Dionne (born 1977), American political scientist
Kim Domingo (born 1995), Filipino entertainer
E
Kim Eagles (born 1976), Canadian sport shooter
Kim English (1970–2019), American singer
Kim English (basketball) (born 1988), American former basketball player
F
Kim Fields (born 1969), American actress
G
Kim Gannon (1900–1974), American songwriter
Kim Gevaert (born 1978), Belgian former sprinter
Kim Gordon (born 1953), American musician
Kim Grant (footballer) (born 1972), Ghanaian former footballer
Kim Green (racing driver), British-Australian former racing driver
Kim Grant (tennis) (born 1971), South African former tennis player
Kim Guadagno (born 1959), American politician and lawyer
H
Kim Hagger (born 1961), English retired heptathlete and long jumper
Kim Henkel (born 1946), American screenwriter and director
Kim Hirschovits (born 1982), Finnish former ice hockey player
Kim Hughes (born 1954), Australian former cricketer
Kim Huybrechts (born 1985), Belgian darts player
J
Kim Johnsson (born 1976), Swedish ice hockey defenceman
Kim Jones (disambiguation), several people
K
Kim Källström (born 1982), Swedish former professional footballer
Kim Kardashian (born 1980), American personality and businesswoman
Kim Kataguiri (born 1996), Brazilian politician and activist
Kim Kilpatrick (born c. 1966), Canadian Paralympic swimmer
Kim Komando (born 1967), American talk-radio program host
L
Kim Larsen (1945–2018), Danish rock and pop musician
Kim Little (born 1990), Scottish professional footballer
Kim Ljung (born 1971), Norwegian musician
M
Kim Manners (1951–2009), American television director and producer
Kim Medcalf (born 1973), English actress, singer and model
Kim Mestdagh (born 1990), Belgian basketball player
Kim Mitchell (born 1952), Canadian musician
Kim Molina (born 1991), Filipino singer
Kim Moyes (born 1976), Australian musician
N
Kim Newman (born 1959), English author
Kim Ng (born 1968), Chinese-American professional baseball executive
Kim Novak (born 1933), American actress
O
Kim O'Brien, American actress
P
Kim Peek (1951–2009), American savant
Kim Perell, American entrepreneur and author
Kim Petersen (born 1956), Danish singer known as King Diamond
Kim E. Petersen (born 1956), American security expert
Kim Petras (born 1992), German singer
Kim Philby (born Harold Philby, 1912–1988), British spy and defector to the Soviet Union
R
Kim Rhode (born 1979), American double trap and skeet shooter
Kim Richards (born 1964), American reality television personality, actress and socialite
Kim Richards (politician) (born 1971), Australian politician
S
Kim Schmitz (born 1974), also known as Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist
Kim Simmonds (1947–2022), Welsh musician
Kim Smith (disambiguation), several people
Kim Staal (born 1978), Danish former professional ice hockey player
Kim Stanley Robinson (born 1952), American science fiction writer
Kim Stolz (born 1983), American fashion model and television personality
Kim Rossi Stuart (born 1969), Italian actor and director
Kim Sunna (born 1987), Swedish professional ice hockey player
T
Kim Thayil (born 1960), American musician
Trần Trọng Kim (1883–1953), Vietnamese scholar and politician
U
Kim Johnston Ulrich, American actress
V
Kim Marie Vaske (born 2005), German para-athlete
Kim H. Veltman (1948–2020), Dutch Canadian historian of science and art
W
Kim Walker-Smith (born 1981), American singer-songwriter
Kim Wall, several people
Kim Wall (died 2017), freelancer and murder victim
Kim Wall (sprinter) (born 1983), British sprinter
Kim Wall (actor), British actor
Kim Warwick (born 1952), Australian former tennis player
Kim Wayans (born 1961), American actress and comedian
Kim Weiss (born 1989), American ice hockey coach
Kim Wilde (born 1960), English singer
Kim Williams (architect), American independent scholar of architecture and mathematics
Kim Williams (basketball) (born 1974), American former professional basketball player
Kim Williams (media executive) (born 1952), Australian media executive
Kim Williams (songwriter) (1947–2016), American country music songwriter
Kim A. Williams Sr. (born 1954), American cardiologist
Kim Woodburn (1942–2025), English television personality and expert cleaner
Y
Kim Yashpal, Indian actress and model
Z
Kim Zolciak-Biermann (born 1978), American television personality
Fictional characters
Kim Bauer in the TV series 24
Kim Butterfield in the soap opera Hollyoaks
Kim Chang in the British television series Casualty
Kim Chin in Class of 3000
Kimball Cho in the American TV series The Mentalist
Kim Craig in the Australian sitcom Kath & Kim
Kim Fox in the soap opera EastEnders
Kim Kitsuragi in the role-playing video game Disco Elysium
Kim Pine in the series of graphic novels Scott Pilgrim
Kim Possible, character in the Disney series of the same name
Kim Tate in the British soap opera Emmerdale
Kim Wexler in the AMC television series Better Call Saul
