Lee

Meaning of Lee

Lee drifts onto the page like a soft breeze over a Tuscan campo, its roots as old as the English word leah—“a sun-splashed meadow clearing”—yet nimble enough to carry the plum-sweet Chinese Li and the storied Korean Yi in its pocket. He is a name of few letters but many echoes: the crackle of Bruce Lee’s kung-fu kicks, the slow drawl of literary hero Harper Lee, a trace of cavalry dust from Robert E. Lee, and even the silver-screen charisma of Lee Pace. In Italy they might call him un nome leggero, light enough to ride on a Vespa between rows of cypress, but resilient, too, like the olive trees that grip the hillsides. Parents find in Lee a brief lullaby—easy to spell, easier to say, and open to endless middles and surnames—while the U.S. charts show him gliding steadily around the 500 mark, never flashy, always faithful, a quiet meadow in the rolling landscape of baby names.

Pronunciation

American English

• Pronunced as lee (/li/)

British English

• Pronunced as lee (/liː/)

• Leo
• Liam
• Levi