| Frequency Comparisons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Rank | Frequency % | Per million people | |
| United States | ||||
| United States (Current snapshot) | 605,860 | 22 | 0.225 | 2,246 |
| United States (1880 census) | 83,486 | 36 | 0.167 | 1,670 |
| Change since 1880 | +522374 | +14 | +0.058 | +576 |
| Other Countries | ||||
| Australia | 25,612 | 16 | 0.157 | 1,567 |
| United Kingdom | 74,722 | 49 | 0.163 | 1,627 |
| Top States for LEE by Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| California | 119,378 | 9 | 0.352 | 3,524 |
| New York | 37,340 | 8 | 0.197 | 1,968 |
| Texas | 37,179 | 37 | 0.178 | 1,783 |
| Florida | 27,945 | 34 | 0.175 | 1,748 |
| Illinois | 22,760 | 22 | 0.183 | 1,833 |
| Top States for LEE by Frequency | ||||
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| Hawaii | 5,286 | 1 | 0.436 | 4,363 |
| Mississippi | 10,047 | 20 | 0.353 | 3,532 |
| California | 119,378 | 9 | 0.352 | 3,524 |
| Washington DC | 1,766 | 15 | 0.309 | 3,087 |
| Alabama | 13,648 | 23 | 0.307 | 3,069 |
'A figure of zero indicates that we don't have data for this name (usually because it's quite uncommon and our stats don't go down that far). It doesn't mean that there's no-one with that name at all!
For less common surnames, the figures get progressively less reliable the fewer holders of that name there are. This data is aggregated from several public lists, and some stats are interpolated from known values. The margin of error is well over 100% at the rarest end of the table!
For less common surnames, the frequency and "per million" values may be 0 even though there are people with that name. That's because they represent less than one in a million of the population, which ends up as 0 after rounding.
It's possible for a surname to gain in rank and/or total while being less common per million people (or vice versa) as there are now more surnames in the USA as a result of immigration. In mathematical terms, the tail has got longer, with a far larger number of less common surnames.
Figures for top states show firstly the states where most people called LEE live. This obviously tends to be biased towards the most populous states. The second set of figures show where people called LEE represent the biggest proportion of the population. So, in this case, there are more people called LEE in California than any other state, but you are more likely to find a LEE by picking someone at random in Hawaii than anywhere else.
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Language of origin: English
Ethnic origin: English
Religious origin: Christian
Name derivation: Location or Geographical Feature
Data for religion and/or language relates to the culture in which the LEE surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the language spoken, or religion practised, by the majority of current American citizens with that name.
Data for ethnic origin relates to the region and country in which the LEE surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the ethnicity of the majority of current American citizens with that name.
| Classification | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| White (Caucasian) | 242,889 | 40.09 |
| Asian/Pacific | 229,197 | 37.83 |
| Black/African American | 105,480 | 17.41 |
| Mixed Race | 13,935 | 2.3 |
| White (Hispanic) | 8,119 | 1.34 |
| Native American/Alaskan | 6,240 | 1.03 |
Ethnic distribution data shows the number and percentage of people with the LEE surname who reported their ethnic background as being in these broad categories in the most recent national census.
LEE. Itself a surname, with the various modifications Atte-Legh (now Atlee) Lea, Ley, Lighe, Lye, &c., is undeniably the A- Sax. leak. It is, as Professor Leo observes, the equivalent of " the old I-Iigh German I6h, and corresponds literally (allowing for the recognized modification) with the Latiu hiois; but whilst leak may enclose a thicket, or indeed an actual wood, it has a yet more general meaning, and may denote such an open field as would be rendered campus.'' Williams's Translation, Treatise on Local Nomenclature, 1852. Lea, the modern English word, signifies, however, meadow, pasture, or grass land. Nor must it be forgotten that the A-Sax. leag or leah, has a totally different meaning, implying a territory or district in which a particular law or custom was in force. This term, varied in different M'ays, as lagv. levga, and lon-cy, Avas i-etained for centuries after the incoming of the Normans, to denote a particular liberty, franchise, or district, as the league of Battel Abliey, the lonry of Pevensey, the h)vcy of Tunbridge, &c. To some or all of these sources, we are indebted for a very large proportion of our local, and consequently of our family nomenclature in South Britain, for— " In Ford, in Ham, in Ley, and Ton, The most of English Snrnames run."
Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.
The following names have similar spellings or pronunciations as LEE.
This does not necessarily imply a direct relationship between the names, but may indicate names that could be mistaken for this one when written down or misheard.
Matches are generated automatically by a combination of Soundex, Metaphone and Levenshtein matching.