What nationality is the Asian surname "Lee"?

Question

What nationality is the Asian surname "Lee"?

Answer 1

China, Korea, and Vietnam all have this name.  It's based on the same Chinese surname, 李, which is super common.

In Korea it's most commonly spelled Lee.

In Vietnam, it's most commonly spelled Ly.

In mainland China, it's usually spelled Li.  In Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore, it'll usually be spelled Lee.

Answer 2

There is quite a lot written about the surname *Lee* this is what www.ancestry.com has to say about the name,

Lee Name Meaning and History

English: topographic name for someone who lived near a meadow or a patch of arable land, Middle English lee, lea, from Old English lea, dative case (used after a preposition) of leah, which originally meant ‘wood’ or ‘glade’.

English: habitational name from any of the many places named with Old English leah ‘wood’, ‘glade’, as for example Lee in Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, and Shropshire, and Lea in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, and Wiltshire.

Irish: reduced Americanized form of Ó Laoidhigh ‘descendant of Laoidheach’, a personal name derived from laoidh ‘poem’, ‘song’ (originally a byname for a poet).

Americanized spelling of Norwegian Li or Lie.

Chinese : variant of Li 1.

Chinese : variant of Li 2.

Chinese : variant of Li 3.

Korean: variant of Yi.

hope this helps.

Answer 3

The surname Lee can be one of the following:

Lee (English name): An English surname.

Lee (Korean name): A Korean name

A common transliteration of Li, one of several Chinese names.

Answer 4

Korean

Answer 5

Crikey, thats like asking about smith or jones, goodluck cause I reckon you'll find it hard to get a true answer!

Answer 6

I always thought it was Chinese, and these Chinese have migrated to Korea, Vietnam, Laos, etc.

Answer 7

Lee is a Chinese surname which means plum tree.

In Korean, there is also a Lee, Li or Yi.

In Vietnamese, it is spelled Ly.

Answer 8

Very common in Korea.