Kimber
An English surname that likely began as a nickname for a wool-comber, though a local origin from South Kimber in Cornwall is also possible.
The #8,581 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 80,444 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is most often linked to an occupational word for a comb-maker or wool-comber, from an older Germanic form related to "comb." That fits medieval surname patterns well, where trades often became family names. A second explanation in older surname books connects Kimber to South Kimber in Cornwall, so the name may sometimes be locational instead of occupational.
History
19th-century surname writers usually favored the occupational explanation, and they also compared it with forms like Kember and Kempster. Lower notes a place called South Kimber in Cornwall, which keeps the locational theory alive. The surname is established in England by the early modern period and is still found in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books even treat Kimber as part of a small cluster of names built from words for wool-working, showing how tightly medieval surnames could track everyday labor.
From the historical record
“KIL WICK. See Killick. KIMBER. A place in Cornwall is called South Kimber. KIMBLE. See Kemble. KIME. SeeKyme. KIIMPTON. Parishes in Hertfordshire and Hampshire. |®° KIN. In old Teutonic, a child ; hence”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom