# Lea (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/lea/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname from Middle English, a variant of Lee.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 9,180 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,863 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 33,632 people |
| Change since 2000 | -4.3% (9,597 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English lēa, the dative case of lēah (“meadow”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Lea in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 72% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 16% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 4.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Lea in the United States.

## People named Lea

- Henry Charles Lea, American historian (1825-1909)
- Bobby Lea, American cyclist
- Isaac Lea, American geologist and Philadelphia publisher (Carey & Lea)
- Luke Lea, American politician, born 1879 (1879–1945)
- Preston Lea, American businessman (1841-1916)

## Similar surnames

Lee, Le, Leahy, Leo, Lew, Lei, Ley, Leu, Leh, Leahey, Li, Lowe.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.