How common is the surname Lea?

9,180 people in the United States had the surname Lea in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,632 Americans. It ranked 3,863rd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Lea?

In the 2010 Census, 72% of people named Lea identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).

Who is the most famous person named Lea?

Henry Charles Lea, American historian (1825-1909), followed by Bobby Lea.

Where is the surname Lea most common?

Wikidata records people named Lea in the United States.

Is the surname Lea getting more or less common?

Less common. 9,597 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,180 in 2010, down 4.3%.

Is Lea also a first name?

Yes. Lea is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Lea

An English surname, carried by 9,180 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex L000 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Lea is more common than 97.6% of them.

Origin

English origin

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

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 9,180 people named Lea in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 33,632 Americans. That is down 4.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 9,597.

#3,863

rank among US surnames

9,180

people in 2010

3.1

per 100,000 Americans

-4.3%

change since 2000 (was #3,414)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,854	Bader	9,197	33,570
#3,855	Hoy	9,196	33,574
#3,856	Sweat	9,194	33,581
#3,857	Hoyle	9,192	33,589
#3,859	Peter	9,191	33,592
#3,860	Maki	9,190	33,596
#3,861	Bowens	9,188	33,603

Who is named Lea

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

72% of people named Lea identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.7% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Leas

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Henry Charles Lea
American historian (1825-1909)
Bobby Lea
American cyclist, born 1983
Isaac Lea
American geologist and Philadelphia publisher (Carey & Lea), 1792–1886
Luke Lea
American politician, born 1879 (1879–1945)
Preston Lea
American businessman (1841-1916)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Lea

Lea has the Soundex code L000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L000.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Lea come from?: From Old English lēa, the dative case of lēah (“meadow”).
How common is the surname Lea?: 9,180 people in the United States had the surname Lea in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,632 Americans. It ranked 3,863rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Lea?: In the 2010 Census, 72% of people named Lea identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Lea?: Henry Charles Lea, American historian (1825-1909), followed by Bobby Lea.
Where is the surname Lea most common?: Wikidata records people named Lea in the United States.
Is the surname Lea getting more or less common?: Less common. 9,597 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,180 in 2010, down 4.3%.
Is Lea also a first name?: Yes. Lea is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.