Lee Wai as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Lee Wai

What is the meaning of the name Lee Wai ?

The baby name Lee Wai is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced Cantonese (Jyutping): Lei5 Wai5 (approx. 'lay why'); Mandarin (Pinyin): Lǐ Wěi (李伟) (approx. 'lee way').

Lee Wai is Chinese in Origin.

Lee Wai is a cross‑cultural name found in Cantonese-speaking communities and the diaspora. Lee can function as an English given name from Old English leah, “woodland clearing/meadow,” or as a romanization of the Chinese or Korean surname 李/이 (“plum”). Wai renders multiple Cantonese characters that map to Mandarin Wei, most commonly 偉 “great; illustrious,” 威 “power; prestige,” 維 “to preserve; uphold,” or 慧 “wise.” In a given-name context, the semantic weight typically comes from the chosen Wai character.

In practice, Lee Wai often appears as a full Chinese name with surname Lee/Lei/Li (李) and given name Wai, especially in Hong Kong and overseas records since the mid‑20th century. Some families also use Lee‑Wai as a hyphenated bilingual given name. Variants and spellings include Li Wei (pinyin), Lee-Wei, Lei Wai, Leigh Wai, and Wai Lee (reversed order). Unisex overall, it skews masculine with 偉/威 and feminine with 慧.

⚙ Lee Wai is exceptionally rare. Our whole dataset turns up only 8 recorded uses, across 2 countries.