Given name & surname · also Hawaiian
Lei
“adorned with flowers”·“resembling thunder”
Lei is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “adorned with flowers” and “resembling thunder”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Original Chinese雷
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “adorned with flowers” and “resembling thunder”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with Hawaiian and Chinese naming traditions.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1937. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Lei through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 683
- 31 boys · 652 girls
- Most popular year
- 1960
- 25 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #16,279 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 16,279 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 6,455 as a first name in 2020; 10,011 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Lei’s family of names
In Greek usage, Lei as a surname is a transliteration of Λέι. In Greek usage, Lei as a surname is a transliteration of Λει. In Greek usage, Lei as a surname is a transliteration of Λεΐ.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 9
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- 雷source · Chinese
- Leeequivalent
- Luiequivalent
- Liequivalent
- 蕾equivalent
- 莉equivalent
- Leyequivalent
- 李equivalent
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People named Lei
- Wu LeiChinese footballerborn 1991
- Cao Leiweightlifterborn 1983
- Wang Leifencerborn 1981
- Kou LeiUkrainian table tennis playerborn 1987
- Gao LeiChinese trampoline gymnastborn 1992
- Li LeiChinese footballerborn 1992
- Zhang LeiChinese volleyball playerborn 1985
- Wang LeiChinese basketball player (born 1986)
- Hong LeiChinese diplomatborn 1969
Characters named Lei: Lei Wulong (Tekken).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Lei, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Leimomi
“wreath; child” · “pearl”
>99% girls
Lu
“a famous warrior”
20% boys · 80% girls
Pei
Pei is a surname from Mandarin, ultimately from Wade–Giles.
>99% girls
Su
Su is a surname from Mandarin. It is used in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, and 1 other language.
11% boys · 89% girls
Kim
“as precious as gold”
17% boys · 83% girls
Lai
“a dark-skinned man”
10% boys · 90% girls
Lehua
Lehua is a feminine given name from Hawaiian. It is used in Hawaiian.
>99% girls
Pui
Pui is a surname from Cantonese, ultimately from Hokkien. It is used in Romanian and Indonesian.
>99% girls