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; although this conflates a number of unrelated surnames with the same spelling (see below).
Video Lee (English surname)
Origins
There are several distinct origins of the Lee surname. The most common is derived from Old English l?ah, meaning a meadow or forest clearing.
This developed variously into the surnames Lee, Lea, and Leigh. The Lees of Shropshire were notable as the forebears of the colonial American Lee family which produced Richard Henry Lee, Robert E. Lee, and Zachary Taylor.
Maps Lee (English surname)
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. One recognized root was the anglicization of the gaelic surname "Ó Laoidaigh" which resulted in a number of variants, such as Lee, Lea, and Leigh. Other Lees have English roots and still others may have derived from the Norman "Du Lea". The 1901 Irish census list 4912 entries primarily in the counties of Galway, Dublin, Cork, Antrim, Limerick and Down.
East Asian
Lee is the anglicized spelling of a number of East Asian surnames used by Chinese or Korean diaspora translating numerous surnames also romanized as Li, particularly the one deriving from the Chinese word for "plum" (?, pinyin L?; S.Kor. ?, Lee; N.Kor. ?, Rhee; Vietnamese ?, qu?c ng? Lê, Lý or Lí) which is among the most common surnames in the world. In America, Lee is the most common surname for Chinese and Korean Americans and the second-most-common surname for Asian and Pacific Islanders, behind the Vietnamese Nguyen. Similarly, Lee is the third-most-common surname among Chinese Singaporeans.
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.
- Albert Lee, English guitarist
- Alvin Lee, English guitarist and singer
- Amy Lee, American musician and singer
- Ann Lee, British singer
- Barbara Lee, American politician
- Bernard Lee, British actor
- Brenda Lee, American singer
- Brett Lee, Australian cricketer
- Caspar Lee, British-South African YouTube personality
- Charles Lee (disambiguation)
- Sir Christopher Lee, English actor and singer
- Curtis Lee (1939-2015), American singer
- Danzell Lee, American football player
- David Lee, American basketball player
- David Lee (disambiguation)
- Francis Lee, English football player
- Geddy Lee, Canadian musician and songwriter
- A. Geoffrey Lee
- George Augustus Lee (1761-1826), British industrialist
- Harper Lee, American author
- Sir Henry Lee, Elizabeth the First's Champion in her jousts for 30 years.
- Jake E. Lee, American guitarist
- James Lee (disambiguation)
- Jason Lee, American actor and professional skateboarder
- Jason Lee, a Methodist missionary in the Pacific Northwest
- Jenna Lee, American broadcast journalist
- Jennie Lee, American stage and screen actress
- Jennie Lee, British stage actress
- John Lee (disambiguation)
- Jonna Lee, Swedish singer
- Keith Lee, American basketball player
- Keith Lee (American football), American football player
- Kent Lee, United States admiral
- Laurie Ann Lee, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
- Laurie Lee, English poet, novelist and screenwriter
- Lena King Lee (1906-2006), American politician and educator
- M. Howard Lee, American physicist,
- Mark Lee (disambiguation)
- Martin Lee Astronaut
- Mary Digges Lee (1745-1805), American patriot
- Mela Lee, American voice actress
- Michael Lee (disambiguation)
- Paul Lee (disambiguation)
- Peggy Lee, American singer
- Richard Henry Lee, American statesman
- Robert E. Lee, an American career military officer
- Shane Lee, Australian cricketer
- Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician
- Spike Lee, an American film director, producer, writer and actor
- Stan Lee, American comic book writer
- Steve Lee, Swiss singer
- Stewart Lee, British comedian and writer
- Swords Lee, American businessman and politician
- Thomas Lee (disambiguation)
- Walter Lee (disambiguation)
- W. Burch Lee, American politician
- Zeph Lee, American football player
Places
A number of places in the US have been named for the various famous people named Lee:
- Lee, Massachusetts
- Lee, New Hampshire
- Lee's Summit, Missouri
- various Fort Lees
- various Leesburgs
- various Leesvilles
- Washington and Lee University
- Lee Township, Michigan
- Lee Township, Minnesota
See also
- Lee (given name)
- List of persons with the surname Lee
- Lea (surname) and Leigh (surname), for related English surnames
- Li (surname), for numerous East Asian surnames romanized "Li"
- Li (?), for the most common one
- Lee (Korean name), for its Korean variants
- Lý (Vietnamese name)
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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