Lee has been given to about 295,926 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1956, which makes it a midcentury name.
Its best year was 1956, when 5,448 babies were given the name, ranking 184th. The typical living American called Lee is about 64 years old today. It is relatively most common in Iowa, where it accounts for 0.05% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.