John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, a place in Norfolk, England, popularised the name by giving it to a town in South Africa and a region in Australia.

The first element, Kimber, reflects various Old English personal names; in the case of the Earldom in Norfolk this first appeared as Chineburlai in 1086 and seems to mean "clearing of a woman called Cyneburg (Cyneburga in Latin)".

[1] At the end of the 19th century, this place was the scene of fighting and a British victory during the Second Boer War, and consequently the given name was popularised in the English-speaking world.

This place name is derived from two Old English elements: the first is the feminine personal name Cyneburg, which means "royal fortress";[citation needed] the second element is lēah, which means "woodland" or "clearing".

Kimberley is used for males and females, while Kimberlee, Kimberleigh, and Kimberli are common feminine variant forms.