Lee is a common surname in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-speaking countries. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

during the year 2000 census, "Lee" was the 22nd-most-common surname.

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

.
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 Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''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 arti ...

or forest clearing. This developed variously into the surnames Lee,

Lea Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

, and Leigh.

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 "

, 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 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 Sh ...

'' * Rock Lee, 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 origina ...

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 bo ...

* 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 = Lexington ...

* 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 e ...

References

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