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Lee is a common surname in English-speaking countries. In the United States during the year 2000 census, "Lee" was the 22nd-most-common surname. United States Census Bureau.
Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000
". 27 Sept 2011. Accessed 29 Mar 2012.


Origins


China

Lee is a common romanization of the Chinese surname 李, alternatively romanized as ''Li.'' in mandarin.


England

There are several distinct origins of the Lee surname. The most common is derived from Old English ''lēah'', meaning a
meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...
or forest clearing. This developed variously into the surnames Lee, Lea, and
Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staff ...
.


Ireland

The name in Ireland has several diverse origins, resulting in widely dispersed clusters of the name in South Western, Western (Galway) and North Eastern Counties.Michael C. O'Laughlin The Book of Irish Families: Great & Small – 2002 reprinted from Michael C. O'Laughlin Families of County Galway, Ireland – 1998 – Page 125 " Lea, Maclee, Macalea, Melee, O'lee, Families of the surname of "Lee" in Ireland may stem from any one of several origins. Lee is an old Irish family name, stemming from families of O'Lee and MacLee. Lee is also a name of English origins ..." One recognized root was the
anglicization Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
of the
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
surname "Ó Laoidigh" which resulted in a number of variants, such as Lee, Lea, and Maclee.Irish Genealogical Foundation: Book of Irish Families
. 1997. Accessed 4 June 2013.
Other Lees have English roots and still others may have derived from the Norman "Du Lea". The 1901 Irish census1901 Census of Ireland: Surname Lee in All Counties
. 27 Sept 1901. Accessed 29 May 2013.
list 4912 entries primarily in the counties of Galway, Dublin, Cork, Antrim, Limerick and Down.


Norway

Originating from Norway as "Lie", this surname was altered when it arrived in the Americas in the late 1800s to fit the English language's pronunciation.


People with the surname

* List of people with the surname Lee


Fictional characters

* Gregg Lee, a fictional character in the video game '' Night in the Woods'' * Meilin Lee, the main character from the 2022 Disney-Pixar film ''
Turning Red ''Turning Red'' is a 2022 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was directed by Domee Shi in her feature directorial debut, written by Shi ...
'' *
Rock Lee is a fictional character in the anime and manga series ''Naruto'' created by Masashi Kishimoto. At first Masashi designed Lee to symbolize human strength. In the anime and manga, Lee is a ninja affiliated with the village of Konohagakure, and is ...
, one of the characters from the ''Naruto'' anime and manga series * The Lee Brothers, the main characters from ''
Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The original ...
''


Places

A number of places in the US have been named for the various famous people named Lee:


United States

* Lee, Massachusetts * Lee, New Hampshire *
Lee's Summit, Missouri Lee's Summit is a city located within the counties of Jackson (primarily) and Cass in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2020 census its population was 101,108, making it the sixth-largest city in both ...
* various Fort Lees * various Leesburgs * various Leesvilles *
Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingt ...
* Lee Township, Michigan * Lee Township, Minnesota *
Lee County, Florida Lee County is located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 760,822. The county seat is Fort Myers (with a population of 86,395 as of the 2020 census), and the largest city is Cape Coral with an est ...


See also

* Lee (given name) * List of persons with the surname Lee * Lea (surname) and
Leigh (surname) Leigh ( ) is both an English surname and a unisex given name meaning "meadow" and "delicate." Surname * Alex Leigh (born 1978), English fashion model * Augusta Leigh (1783–1851), only daughter of John "Mad Jack" Byron * Benjamin W. Leigh (1781 ...
, for related English surnames *
Li (surname) Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political te ...
, for numerous East Asian surnames romanized "Li" *
Li (李) Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political t ...
, for the most common one * Lee (Korean name), for its Korean variants *
Lý (Vietnamese name) LY or ly may refer to: Government and politics * Libya (ISO 3166-1 country code LY) * Lý dynasty, a Vietnamese dynasty * Labour Youth of Ireland * Legislative Yuan, the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Science and tech ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee (English Surname) English-language surnames Surnames of English origin Surnames of Irish origin