Given name & surname
Li
“having great strength; one who is sharp”·“having great strength”
Li is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “having great strength; one who is sharp” (Chinese) and “having great strength” (Chinese). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Mandarin理
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “having great strength; one who is sharp” (Chinese) and “having great strength” (Chinese). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Chinese.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1952. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Li is a variant of Lee. The history of Lee gives this family its wider story. Lee’s naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Li through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 382
- 132 boys · 250 girls
- Most popular year
- 2001
- 23 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 15 in 2001. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 14,656 as a first name in 2020; 165,790 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.
Li’s family of names
In Hebrew usage, Li is a Roman-alphabet rendering of לי. In English usage, Li as a surname has a related form in Lee. In Indonesian usage, Li as a surname has a related form in Lee.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Li has relatives in 15 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.
Chinesewhere Li comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 14
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 20
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Li
- Gong LiChinese-Singaporean actressborn 1965
- Lykke LiSwedish singerborn 1986
- Li AnderssonFinnish politicianborn 1987
- Li Jun LiAmerican actressborn 1983
- Du Lisport shooterborn 1982
- Lai-Sang YoungAmerican mathematician and academicborn 1952
- Li KochmanIsraeli judokaborn 1995
- Yao LeeChinese singer (1922-2019)
- Guo LiChinese synchronized swimmerborn 1993
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Li, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Shi
Shi is a surname from Mandarin. It is used in English and Tagalog.
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Zi
“a flourishing young woman”
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“graceful and slim woman”
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39% boys · 61% girls
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“one who is peaceful”
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Ying
Ying is a surname from Mandarin, ultimately from Chinese.
35% boys · 65% girls