Kim (given name)
Kim is a male and female unisex given name. It is also used as a diminutive or nickname for names such as Kimberly, Kimberley, Kimball and Kimiko. In Kenya it is short for Kimani or Kimathi which are male names.
Pronunciation | English: /kɪm/ Russian: [kʲim] |
---|---|
Gender | Unisex |
Origin | |
Word/name | multiple |
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.[1] 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".[2] Its popularity in the early Soviet era was explained as it being also the acronym for Коммунистический Интернационал Молодежи (Kommunistichesky Internatsional Molodyozhi, Young Communist International).
Notable people
Politics
- Kim Beazley, Australian politician, son of Kim Edward Beazley
- Kim Beazley Sr., Australian politician
- Kim Carr, Australian politician
- Kim Kataguiri, Brazilian political activist
- Kim Campbell, first and only (to date) female Canadian Prime Minister
- Kim Guadagno, New Jersey politician
- Trần Trọng Kim, Vietnamese Prime Minister during Japanese occupation
Sports
- Kim Batiste, American baseball player
- Kim Bokamper, American football player
- Kim Boutin, Canadian short track ice skater
- Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls, IFBB professional bodybuilder
- Kim Clijsters (born 1983), Belgian tennis player
- Kim Eagles (born 1976), Canadian sport shooter
- Kim English, American basketball player
- Kim Gevaert, Belgian sprint athlete
- Kim Grant (footballer), Ghanaian former footballer
- Kim Grant (tennis), South African tennis player
- Kim Green, British-Australian racing team owner and promoter
- Kim Hagger, English track and field athlete
- Kim Hirschovits, Finnish ice hockey player
- Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
- Kim Huybrechts, Belgian darts player
- Kim Johnsson, Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman
- Kim Källström, Swedish footballer
- Kim Ng (born 1968), Chinese-American professional baseball executive
- Kim Rhode, skeet shooter
- Kim Staal, Danish ice hockey player
- Kim Sunna, Swedish professional ice hockey player
- Kim Warwick, Australian former tennis player
- Carlos Henrique Dias, Brazilian footballer nicknamed "Kim"
Artists
- Lil' Kim (born 1975), American rapper
- Kim Appleby (born 1961), British singer
- Kim Basinger (born 1953), American actress
- Kim Bodnia (born 1965), Danish actor and director
- Kim Carnes (born 1945), American singer
- Kim Cascone (born 1955), American electronic music composer
- Kim Cattrall (born 1956), Canadian actress
- Kim Chiu (born 1990), Philippine actress and singer
- Kim Coates (born 1958), Canadian actor
- Kim Deal (born 1961), American musician
- Kim Deitch (born 1944), American comic book artist
- Kim Fields (born 1969), American actress
- Kim Gannon (1900-1974), American songwriter
- Kim Gordon (born 1953), American musician
- Kim Henkel, American screenwriter and director
- Kim Ljung (born 1971), Norwegian musician
- Kim Manners (1951–2009), American television director and producer
- Kim Mitchell (born 1952), Canadian musician and radio personality
- Kim Molina (born 1991), Filipina singer
- Kim Moyes, Australian musician
- Kim Novak (born 1933), American actress
- Kim Petersen (born 1956), also known as King Diamond, Danish singer
- Kim Petras (born 1992), German singer
- Kimberley Rew (born 1951), English singer-songwriter
- Kim Rossi Stuart (born 1969), Italian actor and film director
- Kim Thayil (born 1960), American musician, lead guitarist for Soundgarden
- Kim Walker-Smith (born 1981), American singer-songwriter, worship leader for the Jesus Culture Band
- Kim Wilde (born 1960), English singer
- Kim Wyatt (born 1982), American singer and dancer
- Kim Yashpal (Kim; active from 1979), Indian film actress and model
- Kim Zolciak (born 1978), American singer and reality star from The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Other people
- Kim, a Jaredite king in the Book of Mormon
- Kim Atienza, known professionally as Kim Atienza or Kuya Kim, is a Filipino television host, actor, weather anchor and a former politician.
- Kim Dotcom, Founder of MegaUpload, two-time Gumball 3000 winner and Internet entrepreneur
- Kim Jones (disambiguation), any of several people
- Kim Kardashian, American personality
- Kim Komando, American talk-radio program host
- Kim Mathers, wife of Eminem, subject of song "Kim" from The Marshall Mathers LP
- Kim Newman, English author
- Kim Peek (1951–2009), American savant
- Kim Philby, British spy and defector to the Soviet Union. He was said to have derived his nickname from the book Kim
- Kim Smith (disambiguation), British Royal Navy Officer and submariner
- Kim Stanley Robinson, American science fiction writer
- Kim Stolz, American fashion model, television personality
- Kim H. Veltman (1948–2020), Dutch/Canadian historian of science and art
- Kim Wall, Swedish freelance journalist, killed by Danish entrepreneur Peter Madsen
- Kim Woodburn (born 1942), English television personality & expert cleaner
- Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish racing driver
Fictional characters
- Kim, the main protagonist in Seedfolks
- Kim Bauer in the TV series 24
- Kim Butterfield in the soap opera Hollyoaks
- Kim Chan in Have Gun Will Travel, usually called Hey Boy
- 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
- Kimberly Hart in the Power Rangers franchise, portrayed by Amy Jo Johnson
- Kim Kaphwan in the Fatal Fury series
- Kim Pine in the series of graphic novels Scott Pilgrim
- Kim Possible, animated teenage crime fighter heroine
- Kimiko Ross in webcomic Dresden Codak
- Kim Tate in the British soap opera Emmerdale
- Kimberly Wexler in the AMC television series Better Call Saul, portrayed by Rhea Seehorn
See also
- Kim (surname)
- Kim (Korean surname)
- Kim (disambiguation) (other meanings)