Lee Surname

Meaning and origin of the surname Lee

Topographic surname from Old English leah ('clearing', 'meadow', or 'woodland pasture'), or an Anglicization of Chinese Lǐ (李) and Korean Lee/Yi (이), meaning 'plum tree' or royal dynastic heritage.

Historically and linguistically, Lee belongs to the English, Chinese and Korean family of surnames. It is conventionally pronounced "LEE".

United States Census frequency and ranking

In the official 2010 United States Census, Lee was recorded 693,023 times, ranking as the 21st most common surname in the nation.

This represents an incidence rate of approximately 234.94 bearers per 100,000 Americans, or roughly 1 out of every 426 residents.

Race and ethnicity distribution

According to official decennial Census genealogy microdata, individuals bearing the surname Leereported the following racial and ethnic affiliations in the 2010 US Census:

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 Census Surnames Data. Percentages may not sum to exactly 100% due to independent rounding or suppression of small cell counts for privacy protection.

History of the surname Lee

Lee represents one of the most fascinating dual-lineage surnames in world onomastics. In English tradition, it is predominantly a topographic name for someone residing near a woodland clearing, glade, or meadow, descending from Old English lēah. Early English records document Ailric de la Lea in Northamptonshire in 1148 and William de la Lee in the Hundred Rolls of Shropshire in 1273. The Virginia Lee family became one of the prominent dynasties of early American history.

In East Asian tradition, Lee is the English romanization of the Chinese surname Lǐ (李), meaning 'plum' or 'plum tree', and the Korean surname Lee or Yi (이/李). In China, Li was the imperial royal surname of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), one of the golden ages of Chinese civilization, making it one of the most common surnames in the world. In Korea, the Yi/Lee dynasty ruled the Joseon Kingdom from 1392 until 1910. Asian immigration to the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries brought large numbers of Chinese and Korean families bearing this prestigious surname.

In the 2010 United States Census, Lee ranked as the 21st most common surname in the United States with 693,023 recorded bearers. Its unique demographic distribution shows 42 percent identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander, 36 percent as White, and 16 percent as Black or African American.