Lee
Feminine · “clearing”
Lee is given to both — 62,299 girls and 233,627 boys since 1880. See Lee as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Lee is the commonest element in English place names, standing alone. Leah meant a clearing in woodland — the kind of ground people actually settled on — and it ends hundreds of English villages and surnames.
How old is the name Lee?
Lee was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lee alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 41,000 people named Lee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lee most popular?
Lee peaked in 1955, reaching #183 nationally. Today it ranks #5722, 5,539 places below that high. See the whole 1955 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From leah to Lee
The story of Lee
Lee was a surname before it was a given name, and its American use owes a great deal to Robert E. Lee, after whom a very large number of nineteenth-century Southern children of both sexes were named — often as a middle name. That is how Lee became one of the most-used middle names in American history. As a girls' first name it rose through the twentieth century alongside Leigh, and it peaked in the 1950s.
Meaning
clearing, woodland glade
From the Old English leah, 'clearing' or 'meadow'. It is the -ley, -leigh and -lea that end Ashley, Shirley, Bradley, Beverley and several hundred English place names, and it survives as the standalone surname Lee, Lea and Leigh.
How the name formed
- leah
- Lee
Related forms: Leigh · Lea · Lee
Pronouncing Lee
LEE
One syllable. Lee, Leigh and Lea are all said identically, and the identical spelling exists as an unrelated Korean surname.
Nicknames for Lee
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19571,834 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #183reached in 1955
- Change vs 2022
- −19.2%21 in 2025, from 26
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Lee in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leigh in English — spelling variant
- Lea in English — spelling variant
- Lee in Korean — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Lees among us
people named Lee are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was named Lee
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Angeline test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lee's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Angeline climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Angeline's path sketches the road Lee is walking now.
Lee sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Lee beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lee in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and lies underneath hundreds of English place names.
- It is one of the best middle names in English, which is where most bearers carry it.
- One syllable, three letters, and never misheard in any language.
- It is thoroughly unisex and does not signal sex on paper.
- Three spellings are equally established.
- It is very short, and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Lee to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Lee
Feminine · #5722 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 41,000 people named Lee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lee in 2025?
- Lee ranks #5722 among US girl names in 2025, with 21 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lee?
- About 1 in every 76,537 US girls born in 2025 was named Lee — 21 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lee with classmates?
- Lee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lee
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rosina#5722 · Delores#5722 · Vaughn#5722 · Roseline#5722 · Loyal#5722 · Missy#5722 · Danitza#5722 · Margret#5722
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lee? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lee and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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