Kimber began as a short form of Kimberly, the South African town named after Lord Kimberley, whose title comes from an English place name meaning "Cyneburg's clearing" or "royal fortress meadow". On its own Kimber sounds crisper than Kimberly and fits the current taste for surname-style names like Harper and Piper. Kimber entered the US top 1000 in 2010, peaked at number 593 in 2016 and has eased back to number 936 in 2025.