Lee
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Meaning
means 'meadow, clearing', from Old English leah
Famously borne by Lee Krasner, the Abstract Expressionist long overshadowed by her husband Jackson Pollock.
The story
Lee is Old English leah, a meadow or a clearing, one of those quiet landscape words that became a surname and then, in America, a first name for both sons and daughters. Its curve is among the strangest and most telling in the records: a nearly flat line, decade after decade, from the 1890s all the way to the 1980s, never spiking, never crashing, easing only slightly since. Part of the secret is the middle spot, where Lee has served for generations as the great American connector, smoothing the path between a first name and a last. Part is its simplicity: one syllable, one breath, at home in any era. Harper Lee gave it literary weight, and it echoes a proud surname across East Asia as well. Few names have asked for less attention and earned more staying power.
How popular is Lee around the world?
In the United States, 2,322 babies were named Lee between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 11 boys named Lee were born in 2025, the 348th most common name among boys that year.
Lee is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, South Australia, Scotland, Canada, England and Wales, Mexico City, Austria, Spain, Argentina and Brazil.
United States
1 in 9,400
In the United States, 2,322 babies were named Lee between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lee peaked in the 1890s and the 1980s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 4,900
In Ireland, 11 boys named Lee were born in 2025, the 348th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Lee in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 15,000
In Scotland, 3 boys named Lee were registered in 2024, the 727th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 19,000
In Canada, 19 boys named Lee were born in 2024, ranked 1,232nd among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 22,000
In England and Wales, 27 boys named Lee were born in 2025, ranked 1,093rd among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Mexico City City
1 in 39,000
In Mexico City, there were 3 registrations of Lee in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Lee was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 190,000
In Spain, 217 residents are named Lee, ranked 4,355th among men, with a mean age of 46.6 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
1 in 220,000
In Argentina, 3 newborns were given the name Lee in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
1 in 250,000
At the 2022 census, 730 people in Brazil were named Lee, ranked 10,299th, with a median age of 42.
Among people named Lee living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Chile
last on record 2020
Lee is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Montevideo City
last on record 1992
Lee is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Lee is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2012
Lee is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Poland
last on record 2015
Lee is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Puerto Rico
last on record 2002
Lee is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 31 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Lee
People given the name Lee in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The meeting point
A special case: one side is a given name, the other is a surname that a quarter of a country writes the same way.
Lee · the English given name Lee, Old English lēah, "clearing"
李 · 李, "plum tree": a SURNAME on both the Chinese and Korean side, never a given name: 98.5% of South Koreans surnamed 이 write it "Lee" in their passports. One spelling, two jobs: a surname there, a given name in English
Keep exploring
Names of great artists · Short names · What is Lee short for?
The Lee deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lee truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Lee fits with your family’s names and surname.
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