Talk:Kimberly (given name)

Etymology

"the Modern English meaning is 'diamond'" - How could there be a "modern English meaning" different from the ancient one? --Sasper (talk) 22:05, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Easy, diamond isn't the "meaning" of the name. Actually you can kinda see how diamond fits into the picture though, and why someone added that. Kimberley, Northern Cape is known for its diamonds.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 05:58, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Copied from User talk:Soundofmusicals

Hello, I reverted your edits to Kimberly (given name) because I thought you were mixing things up. It is indeed derived from the place name in South Africa, which was named after Lord Kimberley, whose name is from a place name. That's just the way it is, per the refs shown. Like-named places in Australia, Canada and the US aren't a factor in the given name - it's the South African place. We need to find a ref that specifically gives the etymology of Cyneburg. I'm pretty sure "royal-fortress" is about right, but a ref would clinch it.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 10:13, 8 December 2010 (UTC)

The "Cyneburg" etymology is Anglo-Saxon - i.e. Pre-Norman conquest (1066). Article itself remarks that name dates from 1086 - many years (around three quarters of a millenium?) before any place in South Africa had an English name. In fact the place name originates (according to the article) in the personal name ("someone called Cyneburg"). All this information NOT something I just made up, but was in the article as it was before I edited it, and was apparently referenced. It certainly has the ring of being fairly factual. Then over this someone seems to have superimposed the idea that the name comes from a South African place name. Now no-one is saying that Lord Kimberley is not the source for the name of the South African place, or that Lord Kimberley does not derive his title from one of the English places of that name - that is quite different from saying that he (or anyone else) with a title, surname, or given name of Kimberley is named after the South African place. The other way round, surely?? I mean some people called Kimberley, especially if they born in South Africa, may well be named after Kimberley in South Africa, possibly from the diamond association, but that's not where the name came from, obviously, now is it? How can this be when a form of the name "Kimberley" ("Cyneburg") was current over 700 years before? Logically one of the ideas in the article before I edited it MIGHT WELL be correct - but they can't both be right. I prefer the Anglo-Saxon one (pre 1066) - or at least I reckon it is most likely... I will revert the article back to a state where it at least is internally consistent - if you want to continue this debate then our remarks here need to be removed from my personal page and put in the discussion page of the article. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 14:16, 8 December 2010 (UTC)

A good many places in various coutries are called Kimberley. There is a region in Australia called the "Kimberlies" (no South African connection). As a given name it is actually probably currently used most in the USA, where there are a number of places called Kimberly (different spelling - but essentially same name) - none of them named after the South African place, in fact most probably after one of two places in England. This is thoroughly muddleheaded.

This article is about the given name. The given name is derived from the South African place name. The other place names in varying countries have nothing to do with this article. Actually, there are at least three places in England named Kimberley, but they have different etymologies (from the personal names Cyneburg, Cynemær, Cynebold). The surname Kimberley can be derived from any of these places. But in this article we are only concerned with the given name. Soundofmusicals, you can't put your personal opinion into articles. We've got to follow our sources. Our reference is specific about the South African connection. It's easy to understand: the Norfolk placename is the origin of the title; the title is the origin of the South African place name; the South African place name is the origin of the given name. If you dispute this derivation that's OK, but you've gotta leave that on the talkpage, you can't mess up the article with personal opinions. It's easier to understand when you realise that Kimberley, South Africa was the site of a British victory in the Second Boer War (Siege of Kimberley - October 1899 – February 1900). That's when the name entered into the popular consciousness.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 05:53, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Note the above purple stuff was copied and pasted from User talk:Soundofmusicals.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 06:35, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Can't really be bothered with this - but the personal name "Kimberley" (or a very close cognate of it) was around a loooooong time before the Boer War (like best part of a thousand years). The name may or may not have become popular about that time (??) very much doubt it, what ever your source says, some "sources" are profoundly ignorant and can and should be rejected. In any case, this would be a case of a very old name being revived rather than a new one being coined! It is after all principally an American name (so far as modern usage is concerned) - and the Americans, if they cared about the Boer War at all, were on the Boer's side!! When a source is plainly ignorant fantasy... still you can have your little wank if you must - just that this kind of thing gives Wikipedia a bad name. I'll leave this for someone with a better dictionary of names to argue. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 08:52, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

What gives Wikipedia a bad name is people inserting unreferenced misinformation into articles and presenting it as fact.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 06:56, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

Unisex

The article lead says Kimberly is unisex, but the infobox says "feminine". So which is it? Thinkbabynames.com says it can be either, though it is #24 for females and not in the top 1000 for males. Knight of Truth (talk) 18:59, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Kimberlé & demographics

What is the origin of the variant Kimberlé, and is it common, and among which population. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.91.51.235 (talk) 18:23, 31 May 2019 (UTC)