Kima is best known as Detective Kima Greggs from HBO's The Wire (2002-2008) — one of the show's most quietly compelling characters, whose name became a minor tribute name for fans of that series. With 28 registry records it sits at a genuine cult-TV-tribute tier, most common on female dogs in urban registrations.
The Wire Tribute
Kima Greggs is one of television's more understated great characters — a lesbian Black detective navigating Baltimore's drug trade with more intelligence than almost anyone around her. The Wire fandom is devoted and specific, and naming a dog Kima signals membership in that group without requiring any explanation to people in the know. Omar is the show's other frequently cited pet-tribute name.
Sound and Structure
KEE-mah is two syllables, soft, open-vowel ending — a genuinely effective call name regardless of the TV connection. It's similar in register to Kira and Mia but with a slightly more distinctive opening consonant cluster. The human name Kima is rare in US birth records outside the show's influence.
The Counter-Reading: The Wire Is Not Universal
The Wire had dedicated critical audiences but not broad mainstream viewership — the reference lands cleanly for fans and draws a blank for everyone else. Browse pet names for similarly structured two-syllable feminine options.