Lees

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Lee in US United States, KR South Korea, GB United Kingdom and 7 more, Li in CN China, FR France, ES Spain, Leila in BR Brazil, AR Argentina, GE Georgia and Lili in HU Hungary, PE Peru, MX Mexico.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Lees is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish name4.5K records spelled Lees7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Mexico

  Also written Lee'S, Léés, Lëës

• French given name1.8K records spelled Lees10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France

  Also written Lëës, Leès, Léés, Lées, Leës

• a separate name256 records spelled Lees2 spellings in the group

  Also written Lee'S

• Russian surname187 records spelled Lees7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia

  Also written Леес, Лииз, Lées

42 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Lees is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, plural of Lea; first attested Roger de Leges, de Lees 1212 Cur (Kent)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• habitational name from Leece or Lees in Lancashire, or Leese in Cheshire, all named from Old English leas ‘woodland clearings’ (plural of leak), or from Leece in Cumbria, which was probably named with a Celtic word, li'ss ‘hall’, ‘court’, ‘the principal house in a district’.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• topographic name from Middle English lees ‘fields’, ‘arable land’, plural of lee (see Lee), or from Middle English lese ‘pasture’, ‘meadow’ (Old English las).

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, The sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• 4. Scottish: reduced form of Gillies.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

FR INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) — 11 years between 1891–1991. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Robert Leesb. 1912USAmerican screenwriter and actor (1912-2004)
• Andrea Leedsb. 1914USnot in their usual nameAmerican film actress (1914-1984)
• Benjamin Leesb. 1924USAmerican composer (1924–2010)
• Gene Leesb. 1928CACanadian music critic, biographer, lyricist, and journalist (1928–2010)
• Geoff Leesb. 1951GBBritish racing driver
• Nathaniel Leesb. 1952NZNew Zealand actor
• Christine Fletcherb. 1955NZnot in their usual nameNew Zealand politician
• Paris Leesb. 1986GBBritish journalist and activist for transgender rights
• Tom Leesb. 1990GBEnglish association football player (born 1990)
• Angus MacDonaldb. 1992GBnot in their usual nameEnglish association football player (born 1992)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 49 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Lees?

We estimate roughly 724 thousand people bear Lees (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Lees have the most bearers?

Lees is most frequently recorded in China, where it is most often spelled li.

How common is Lees compared with other names?

In China, Lees is the 5th most common surname of 134,008 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Lees mean?

Recorded meaning: (i) Person who lives by meadows; (ii) person from various places meaning ‘place by the woods’; (iii) from medieval female name Lece, a form of Lettice; (iv) shortened form of Gillies.