Lee is a common surname in English-speaking countries.
In Canada, "Lee" was the 4th-most-common surname outside of Quebec. [1] In the United States during the 2000 census, "Lee" was the 22nd-most-common surname. [2]
There are several distinct origins of the Lee surname. The most common is derived from Old English lēah, meaning a meadow or forest clearing. [3] [4]
This developed variously into the surnames Lee, Lea, and Leigh.[ citation needed ]
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. [5] One recognized root was the anglicization of the Irish surname "Ó Laoidigh" which resulted in several variants, such as Lee, Lea, and Maclee. [6] Other Lees have English roots and still others may have derived from the Norman "Du Lea".[ citation needed ] The 1901 Irish census [7] list 4912 entries primarily in Galway, Dublin, Cork, Antrim, Limerick and Down counties.
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.[ citation needed ]
Several places in the US have been named for the various famous people named Lee:
County Clare is a county in the province of Munster in the Southern part of the republic of Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 127,938 at the 2022 census. The county seat and largest settlement is Ennis.
Lee may refer to:
Akins is a Scottish surname and northern Irish family name.
Leigh may refer to:
Smith is an occupational surname originating in England. It is the most prevalent surname in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and the fifth most common surname in the Republic of Ireland. In the United States, the surname Smith is particularly prevalent among those of English, Scottish, and Irish descent, but is also a common surname among African-Americans, which can be attributed either to African slaves having been given the surname of their masters, or to being an occupational name, as some southern African-Americans took this surname to reflect their or their father's trade. 2,442,977 Americans shared the surname Smith at the time of the 2010 census, and more than 500,000 people shared it in the United Kingdom as of 2006. At the turn of the 20th century, the surname was sufficiently prevalent in England to have prompted the statement: "Common to every village in England, north, south, east, and west"; and sufficiently common on the (European) continent to be "common in most countries of Europe".
Lynch is a surname of English and Irish origin.
The Clan Livingstone, also known as Clan MacLea, is a Highland Scottish clan, which was traditionally located in the district of Lorn in Argyll, Scotland, and is seated on the Isle of Lismore. There is a tradition of some MacLeas Anglicising their names to Livingstone, thus the Clan Livingstone Society's website also refers to the clan as the Highland Livingstones. The current chief of Clan Livingstone was recognised by Lord Lyon as the "Coarb of Saint Moluag" and the "Hereditable Keeper of the Great Staff of Saint Moluag".
Geraghty and the variant Garaghty are Irish surnames, it was originally written in a Gaelic form as Mag Oireachtaigh, the name is derived from the word "oireachtach," referring to a member of an assembly. The name of the modern national legislative body in Ireland, the Oireachtas comes from the same Gaelic root.
Moore is a common English-language surname. It was the 19th most common surname in Ireland in 1901 with 15,417 members. It is the 34th most common surname in Australia, 32nd most common in England, and was the 16th most common surname in the United States in 2000.
Geoghegan is a surname of Irish origin.
Hynes is a surname, many examples of which originate as the anglicisation the Irish name Ó hEidhin.
Hastings is a surname of English and Irish origin, and is used also as a given name.
McCawley and MacCawley are surnames in the English language. The names are Anglicisations of several Gaelic-language surnames. There are several etymological origins for the names: all of which originated as patronyms in several Gaelic languages—Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Although the English-language surnames are ultimately derived from Gaelic patronyms, the English-language surnames, and the modern Gaelic-language forms do not refer to the actual name of the bearer's father or grandfather. The surnames are not very common.
The surname Ford has several origins. In some cases it originated as a name for someone who lived near a ford, and is therefore derived from the Old English and Middle English ford. In some cases, the surname is derived from places named Ford. Examples of such places include Ford in Northumberland, a place in Somerset, Ford in Shropshire, Ford in West Sussex, and Forde in Dorset.
Carpenter is a surname. Its use as a forename or middle name is rare. Within the United States, it ranked as the 231st-most common surname as of the 2010 census. The English meaning of carpenter is the occupation of one who makes wooden objects and structures by shaping wood.
Cawley is a surname in the English language. There are several different origins of the surname. In some cases the surnames are derived from any of numerous place names in England. In other cases the surnames are derived from any of several Gaelic language surnames.
Onomastics is an important source of information on the early Celts, as Greco-Roman historiography recorded Celtic names before substantial written information becomes available in any Celtic language.
The surname Nevin has several origins.
Li or Lee is a common Chinese surname, it is the 4th name listed in the famous Hundred Family Surnames. Li is one of the most common surnames in Asia, shared by 92.76 million people in China, and more than 100 million in Asia. It is the second-most common surname in China as of 2018, the second-most common surname in Hong Kong, the most common surname in Macau and the 5th most common surname in Taiwan, where it is usually romanized as "Lee". The surname is pronounced as in Cantonese, Lí (poj) in Taiwanese Hokkien, but is often spelled as "Lee" in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand and many overseas Chinese communities. In Macau, it is also spelled as "Lei". In Indonesia it is commonly spelled as "Lie". The common Korean surname, "Lee", and the Vietnamese surname, "Lý", are both derived from Lee and written with the same Chinese character (李). The character also means "plum" or "plum tree".