English: from the female personal name Kynborough, recorded in Suffolk, England, as late as the 16th and 17th centuries. Although there is no Middle English evidence for it, this probably represents a survival of Old English female personal name Cyneburh, composed of the elements cyne- ‘royal’ + burh ‘fortress’, ‘stronghold’. This was the name of a daughter of the 7th-century King Penda of Mercia, who, in spite of her father’s staunch opposition to Christianity, was converted and founded an abbey, serving as its head. She was venerated as a saint, and gave her name to the village of Kimberley in Norfolk. The surname is now almost extinct in England, but continues to flourish in the U.S.