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Lee Name Meaning, Origins & History

Lee

Pronunciation: LEE

Meaning Field, meadow Origin Irish Gender Unisex
BOYS RANK
#727
TREND
13
GIRLS RANK
#5,832
TREND
618
Peak Years
1951, 1947, 1952
Lowest Years
2019, 2020, 1891
Energy Archetype
Wise & Balanced

Rank shows the name’s position among U.S. baby names for each gender in 2025. Trend shows how many places it rose or fell since 2024. Rank 1 is the most popular. Based on U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Peak and lowest years are based on the number of boys named Lee in the available records.

Fun Facts About the Name Lee

  • Decades of popularity: Lee stayed in the U.S. top 100 for 76 consecutive years, from 1880 through 1955.
  • More than 295 thousand babies named Lee: U.S. records list 295,921 babies given the name Lee from 1880 through 2025. Of these, 62,299 girls received the name Lee - about 1 girl for every 4 boys.

What Does the Name Lee Mean?

Lee is an English name meaning "clearing" or "meadow." It comes from the Old English word lēah, which named a wood, glade, or open clearing in a forest. That same word is the source of many English place names and survives in endings such as -ley, -leigh, and -lee. As a surname, Lee was a topographic name for someone who lived at or near a wood or clearing. The given name Lee is a transferred use of that surname, not a name with a separate Old English root.

A second, unrelated origin exists in Ireland: the Gaelic surname Ó Laoidhigh, from laoidh, "poem" or "song," was in some cases anglicized as Lee. The spelling Lee also stands for Chinese 李 (Lǐ) and for the Korean surname 이, often romanized as Yi or Lee. Those are separate surname traditions that happen to share an English spelling; they are not related to the English name or to each other.

Lee Name History & Origins

The English surname Lee developed in the Middle Ages from the Old English element lēah. It is found in place names including Lee in Kent (now part of south London), Lea in Lancashire, and many villages whose names end in -ley or -leigh. A man who took his surname from such a place was identified by the local feature rather than by a trade or a father's name. Because the same word was so common in place naming, the surname arose independently in many parts of England.

Lee is one of a group of English surnames that were later adopted as first names. Surnames began to be used as given names in England in the 1600s, and the practice became widespread in the American South, where a mother's maiden name was often given to a son. Lee was in established use as a given name by the 1800s and was common in the United States by the early 1900s, serving both as a first name and as a middle name for boys. It also came into use as a feminine given name. The surname is widely known from the Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807 - 1870); the given name has been borne by figures such as the actors Lee Marvin and Lee Remick.

In Ireland and Scotland, Lee sometimes represents an anglicized Gaelic surname rather than the English topographic name, so bearers of the name do not all share a single ancestral line.

How Popular is the Name Lee?

Lee remained among the top 100 boy names in the U.S. from 1880 to 1955. Its highest annual birth count was in 1951, and people born that year turn 75 in 2026.

U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.

Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.

Famous People Named Lee

Lee Andrews
Lee Andrews

Explore Name Lists Featuring Lee

Carl appears in several baby name collections based on U.S. popularity records, naming trends, and name characteristics. Explore these lists to discover other names with similar histories, styles, or features.

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How the Name Lee Shapes Your Personality and Life?

You always bring to completion anything you start. You are generous but like to see returns from your giving. You have an executive ability, you are a leader. You are moral, balanced, honest and intellectual, and you may attain spirituality. You are wise and practical with an appreciation of beauty. You always think before you act. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.

Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.

✦ Lee's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Lee's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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