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Lee (given name)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lee
GenderUnisex
Origin
Word/nameGreat Britain
MeaningFrom the English word 'lee', meaning "shelter(ed), protection, haven, sanctuary".
Region of originGreat Britain [citation needed]

Lee is a unisex given name from the English word 'lee'. Also used as a surname as one of derivative spellings often confused with the Old English surname and given name leah ("clearing; meadow"), which evolved to 'leigh' in Middle English, and present day 'lea' of the same meaning.

According to the Social Security Administration's popular baby name database, its popularity peaked in the United States in the early 1900's ranking 39 as a masculine name, and in 1955 ranking 182 as a feminine name. The name's popularity declined steadily in the second half of the 20th century, falling below rank 1000 by 1991 as a feminine name, and to 698 as of 2021 as a masculine name.[1] In the later 20th century, it also gained some popularity in the United Kingdom, peaking among the 20 most popular boys' names during the 1970s to 1980s, but it had fallen out of the top 100 by 2001.[2]

Lee is also a hypocoristic form of the given names Ashley, Beverly, Kimberley, Leona, and Leslie (all of which are also derived from English placenames containing -leah as a second element; with the possible exception of Leslie, which may be an anglicization of a Gaelic placename).

People

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A–G

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H–M

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N–Z

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People called Leee

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Some people spell their name with three Es instead of two:

  • Leee Black Childers (born Lee Black Childers; 1945–2014), American avant-garde photographer and music manager
  • Leee John (born John Leslie McGregor; 1957), British pop musician

Fictional characters

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References

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  1. ^ "Popular Baby Names".
  2. ^ babynames.co.uk

See also

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