Le is a

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of several rare

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

n surnames and a common Vietnamese surname. It is a fairly common surname in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, ranked 975th during the 1990 census and 368th during the 2000 census. In 2000, it was the eighth-most-common surname among America's Asian and Pacific Islander population, predominantly from its Vietnamese use. It was also reported among the top 200 surnames in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, based on a survey of that province's Registered Persons Database of

Canadian health card Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare. It is guided by the provisions of the ''Canada Health Act'' of 1984, and is universal. The 2002 Royal ...

recipients as of the year 2000.

Origins of surname

Vietnamese

Lê is a common

Vietnamese surname Traditional Vietnamese personal names generally consist of three parts, used in Personal name#Eastern name order, Eastern name order. * A family name (normally patrilineal, although matrilineality is possible, in cases such as divorce, children ...

(

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

most common), written in

Chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

. It is pronounced in the Hanoi dialect and in the Saigon dialect. It is usually pronounced in English, with it being commonly mistaken for another surname, with similar spelling and pronunciation in English, Lý.

Chinese

Mandarin Le is the

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

romanization of the Chinese surname (written 乐 in

Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized Chinese characters, character sets widely used to write the Chinese language, with the other being traditional characters. Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of ...

and 樂 in

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to written Chinese, write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education (Taiwan), Ministry of Educat ...

); it is Lok in Cantonese.

Minnan

Lê or Le is the POJ romanization of the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicization, Sinicized ethnic groups in Greater China, Korea, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, ...

Li (, ''Lí'')

People with the surname

Vietnamese

;Lê *

Anterior Lê dynasty The Anterior Lê dynasty, alternatively known as the Former Lê dynasty (; chữ Nôm: ; ) in historiography, was a List of Vietnamese dynasties, dynasty of Vietnam that ruled Đại Cồ Việt (chữ Hán: 大瞿越) from 980 to 1009. It fo ...

*The

Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...

Lê Công Vinh Lê Công Vinh (born 10 December 1985) is a Vietnamese former Association football, footballer who played as a forward. He was part of the Vietnam national football team, Vietnam national team between 2004 and 2016, and played predominantly as ...

, football player *

Lê Hoàn Lê Hoàn (10 August 941 – 18 March 1005), posthumously title Lê Đại Hành, was the third ruler of Đại Việt kingdom, ruling from 981 to 1005, and founder of the Early Lê dynasty. He first served as the generalissimo commanding ...

, founding emperor of the Anterior Lê dynasty *

Dinh Q Lê Dinh may refer to: Dinh ''pronounced "zinh" or "yinh"'' * Dinh River (Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu), river in Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, one of five rivers named Sông Dinh in Vietnam. * núi Dinh, hills in Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, Vietnam Đình ''pronoun ...

Lê Duẩn Lê Duẩn (; 7 April 1907 – 10 July 1986) was a Vietnamese communist politician. He rose in the party hierarchy in the late 1950s and became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (VCP) at the 3rd Natio ...

Lê Đức Anh Lê Đức Anh (; 1 December 1920 – 22 April 2019) was a Vietnamese politician and general who served as the fifth President of Vietnam from 1992 to 1997. He previously led the Vietnamese forces in Cambodia throughout the 1980s. He was regar ...

Dowager Empress Gia Từ Dowager Empress Gia Từ of Lê clan (Chữ Hán: 嘉慈皇太后黎氏, ? - 1381) was the Queen consort, consort of Trần dynasty. Biography Lady Gia Từ was born at Đại Lại village, Vĩnh Lộc District, Vĩnh Lộc district, Ái Châu, ...

, originally of the Lê clan of Vĩnh Lộc District * Lê Hằng Phấn *

Lê Huỳnh Đức Lê Huỳnh Đức (born 20 April 1972) is a Vietnamese football manager and former footballer. He last managed V.League 1 club Becamex Bình Dương. Huỳnh Đức is a former member of the Vietnam national football team, with whom he earne ...

, football player *

Lê Khả Phiêu Lê Khả Phiêu (; 27 December 1932 – 7 August 2020) was a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from December 1997 to April 2001.Gainsborough 2010, p. 143 Lê Khả Phiêu served in the Viet ...

* Lê Lâm Quỳnh Như, Vietnamese-American singer known as Như Quỳnh *

Lê Lợi Lê Lợi (, chữ Hán: 黎利; 10 September 1385 – 5 October 1433), also known by his temple name as Lê Thái Tổ (黎太祖) and by his pre-imperial title Bình Định vương (平定王; "Prince of Pacification"), was a Vietnamese peopl ...

, founding emperor of the Lê dynasty *

Nguyên Lê Nguyên Lê (Vietnamese: ''Lê Thành Nguyên''; born 14 January 1959) is a French jazz musician and composer of Vietnamese ancestry. His main instrument is guitar, and he also plays bass guitar and guitar synthesizer. He has released albums ...

Lê Minh Đảo Lê Minh Đảo (5 March 1933 – 19 March 2020) was a Major general in the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). He commanded the 18th Division nicknamed "The Super Men", at Xuân Lộc, the last major battle of the Vie ...

Lê Nhân Tông Lê Nhân Tông (黎仁宗, 28 May 1441 – 25 October 1459), birth name Lê Bang Cơ (黎邦基) in Vietnam was the third king of the Later Lê dynasty from 1453 until his murder in a coup in 1459. He was a grandson of the Emperor Lê Lợi. Du ...

Lê Quan Ninh Lê Quan Ninh (born Paris, 1961) is a French people, French percussionist active in contemporary music and free improvisation. He began studying piano at the age of 7, but turned towards percussion as a teenager. When he was 16, he entered the ...

, French percussionist *

Lê Quang Liêm Lê Quang Liêm (born 13 March 1991) is a Vietnamese chess grandmaster, the top-ranked of his country. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2006. Liêm won the Asian Chess Championship in 2019 and was the World Blitz Chess Champ ...

, chess player *

Lê Quang Tung Colonel Lê Quang Tung (13 June 1919 – 1 November 1963) was the commander of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces under the command of Ngô Đình Nhu. Nhu was the brother of South Vietnam's president, Ngô Đình Diệm. A fo ...

, commander of ARVN Special Forces *

Lê Quý Đôn (chữ Hán: (; 2 August 1726 – 11 June 1784), , on his pen name is Doãn Hậu , and Quế Đường was an 18th-century Vietnamese poet, encyclopedist, and government official. His pseudonym was Quế - Đường. He was a native of Duye ...

Lê Văn Duyệt Lê Văn Duyệt (1763 or 1764 – 30 July 1832) was a Vietnamese general who helped Nguyễn Ánh—the future Emperor Gia Long—put down the Tây Sơn wars, unify Vietnam and establish the Nguyễn dynasty. After the Nguyễn came to power ...

, general of

Gia Long Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

and viceroy of southern Vietnam * Lê Văn Hưng * Lê Văn Khôi, adopted son of Le Van Duyet * Lê Văn Thiêm *

Lê Thái Tông Lê Thái Tông (黎太宗 22 December 1423 – 28 August 1442), birth name Lê Nguyên Long (黎元龍), was the second king of the Later Lê dynasty from 1433 until his early death nine years later. __TOC__ Biography Lê Thái Tông was ...

, second emperor of the Lê dynasty *

Lê Thánh Tông Lê Thánh Tông (黎聖宗; 25 August 1442 – 3 March 1497), personal name Lê Hạo, temple name Thánh Tông, courtesy name Tư Thành, was an emperor of Đại Việt, reigning from 1460 to 1497, the fifth and the longest-reigning empero ...

, fifth emperor of the Lê dynasty * Lê Tuấn Hùng *

Lê Long Đĩnh Lê Long Đĩnh (; 黎龍鋌, 15 November 98619 November 1009), also known as Lê Ngọa Triều (), was the last emperor of the Early Lê dynasty of the kingdom of Đại Cồ Việt, ruling from 1005 to 1009. After killing his predecessor ...

, the last emperor of the Anterior Lê dynasty ;Le * Annie Le *

Cung Le Cung Le (; born May 25, 1972) is an American actor, former professional mixed martial artist, Sanshou fighter and kickboxer. Le is perhaps best known in mixed martial arts for competing in Strikeforce, holding a record of 7–1 with the organi ...

(born 1972), Vietnamese-born American martial artist * Duy-Loan Le * Hoang Le * Linda Le, Vietnamese-American cosplayer and model * Michelle Le *

Minh Le Minh Le ( Vietnamese: Lê Minh; born June 27, 1977), also known by his online nickname Gooseman, is a Vietnamese-Canadian video game programmer who co-created the ''Half-Life'' mod ''Counter-Strike'' with Jess Cliffe in 1999 and started the ' ...

* Tony Le-Nguyen *

Thuy Thu Le Thuy Thu Le (born 1966/1967) is a Vietnamese actress known for her appearance in the 1989 movie '' Casualties of War'' by Brian De Palma. Biography Le was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, in 1966 or 1967. She fled to the United States with her fat ...

* Tuan Le * Danny "Shiphtur" Le, Canadian ''League of Legends'' player

Chinese

* Le Jingyi, a former

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

who won the gold medal in the 100 meters freestyle at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Other

* Nhi Le (born 1995) German journalist, speaker, discussion moderator and author. * Tamara Le, American politician

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Surnames Chinese-language surnames Vietnamese-language surnames Hokkien-language surnames Surnames of Vietnamese origin vi:Lê (họ)

Origins of surname

Vietnamese

Chinese

Minnan

People with the surname

Vietnamese

Chinese

Other

See also

References