How Many People Are Named Lee?
people named Lee are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 2,097 people in the US has this name
Based on 295,926 babies named Lee in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐ Uncommon
Peak Year
5,448 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From a surname which was derived from Old English leah meaning "clearing". The surname belonged to Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), commander of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In his honour, it has been commonly used as a given name in the American South.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Lee in English. Counting Lee and these spellings together, about 202,796 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Lee, 24.4% were girls and 75.6% were boys. The share has stayed close to this since the 1880s: 11.1% of the babies were girls then and 6% in the 2020s.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Lee alive today is about 57 years old, and 49% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 45 and 70 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Lee first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1956, to 5,448 babies. In 2025, 387 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Lee never made the top 10 boys' names. Its best rank was #39, in 1900, and it was in the top 100 for 76 years, 1880 to 1955. In 2025 it ranked #727. Among girls, its best rank was #183, in 1955.
| Boys | Girls | |
|---|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #727 | #5,831 |
| Best rank | #39 (1900) | #183 (1955) |
| Years in the top 100 | 76 (1880 to 1955) | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #98 in the 1950s | #220 in the 1950s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Lee alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Lee were born in Texas than in any other state: about 12,157 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Lee was given 2.6 times as often in Mississippi, 2 times in Arkansas and 1.6 times in Louisiana.
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