Kimiko is of Japanese origin, derived from the elements 'kimi' meaning 'honorable' and 'ko' meaning 'child'. It was popularized in the West following World War II as a unisex name but is more commonly used for females. The name gained prominence internationally through characters like Kimiko Tanaha, the protagonist in Katsuhiro Otomo's manga series 'Akira', and Kimiko Taki, the main character in Banana Yoshimoto's novel 'Moonlight Shadow'.
The name Kimiko experienced significant fluctuations in popularity over the years, with peaks around the late 1960s to early 1980s and a notable resurgence since 2020. The most common years for the name were 1980 and 2023, both seeing 38 births each. However, from the mid-1930s to the late 1960s, Kimiko was quite rare, with fewer than 10 births per year on average. The overall total of Kimiko births from 1909 to 2023 is 1796.