Discover and Shortlist Your Perfect Baby Names!

Li as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Li

♡Add to my Name List

The baby name Li is a Unisex name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced Commonly 'Lee' /liː/. Mandarin: Lǐ (李) [lǐ] (3rd tone). Cantonese: Lei (Jyutping lei5) [lei]. Korean: Lee/이 pronounced [i] (often romanized 'Lee'). Vietnamese: Lý pronounced [li]..

Li is Chinese, Korean in Origin.

Gender: Unisex
Syllables: 1.0
Origin: Chinese, Korean
Pronunciation: Commonly 'Lee' /liː/. Mandarin: Lǐ (李) [lǐ] (3rd tone). Cantonese: Lei (Jyutping lei5) [lei]. Korean: Lee/이 pronounced [i] (often romanized 'Lee'). Vietnamese: Lý pronounced [li].

What is the meaning of the name Li ?

The baby name Li is a Unisex name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced Commonly 'Lee' /liː/. Mandarin: Lǐ (李) [lǐ] (3rd tone). Cantonese: Lei (Jyutping lei5) [lei]. Korean: Lee/이 pronounced [i] (often romanized 'Lee'). Vietnamese: Lý pronounced [li]..

Li is Chinese, Korean in Origin.

Li is a Chinese unisex name and one of the world’s most common surnames. Its meaning depends on the character: 李 “plum,” 丽/麗 “beautiful,” 力 “strength,” 礼/禮 “ritual,” 理 “reason,” and 黎 “multitude; dusk/dawn.” As a surname, 李 has deep roots and was borne by the Tang imperial house; as a given name, Li can stand alone or appear as one syllable of a two-character name. In pinyin it is written Li (tones often omitted in names), e.g., Lǐ for 李 or Lì for 丽.

Across languages, Li appears in diverse forms. In Cantonese, 李 is commonly spelled Lee or Lei; in Korean, 李 is the surname Lee/Yi (Ri in North Korea); in Vietnamese, 李 corresponds to Lý and 黎 to Lê; in Japanese, 李 reads Ri (kun-reading sumomo, “plum”). Related or anglicized variants include Lee and, less formally, Lai/Lih. Usage is widespread and gender-neutral, with meanings chosen by the specific character.

Li has the following similar or variant Names

Famous people with the name Li

Li Keqiang Politician · Born 1955 · People's Republic of China Li Keqiang was a prominent Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the People's Republic of China from 2013 to 2023. He played a key role in economic policy and governance during his tenure. Li was known for his efforts to promote economic reform and development in China. Gong Li Actor · Born 1965 · People's Republic of China Gong Li is a Chinese actress best known for her roles in films like 'Raise the Red Lantern' and 'Farewell My Concubine'. She gained international recognition for her performances in these films, which are considered classics of Chinese cinema. Born in 1965, she has become one of the most prominent figures in the film industry from the People's Republic of China. Li Si Politician · Born -279 · Qin dynasty Li Si was best known as a powerful statesman and official of the Qin dynasty who helped shape early imperial China. He was also known as a philosopher and calligrapher, and he served under Qin Shi Huang in the late 3rd century BC.
King Li of Zhou Royal · Born -850 · Zhou dynasty King Li of Zhou, born Ji Hu, is best known as a king of China’s Zhou dynasty whose harsh rule helped spark unrest and led to his exile. He died in 828 BC and is usually dated as reigning in the 9th century BC, with estimates including 877–841 BC or 857–842 BC.

Celebrity babies named Li

Name Last Name(s) Mother Mother famous for Fame Level Father Father famous for Fame Level
Li Yan Faye Wong singer ★★★★★ Li Yapeng television actor ★★★★★

Li – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
Ireland Girls 2006 #1 — 834
CN Girls 0 #5 1,444 8,829
KH Girls 0 #6 1 148
CN 0 #8 104 3,857
KH Boys 0 #8 2 270
SV Girls 0 #18 1 458
MV 0 #19 1 644
CN Boys 0 #24 957 9,639
BN 0 #31 2 2,297
NA 0 #33 1 2,537
DJ Boys 0 #35 2 657
SG 0 #35 345 11,010
SG Girls 0 #36 2,084 18,916
EE 0 #37 1 1,051
ID 0 #38 2 2,238
HK Girls 0 #39 2,967 16,104
MO 0 #41 12 2,706
GE 0 #43 2 997
TW 0 #50 51 4,523
PR 0 #54 2 1,497
LU 0 #63 4 2,830
HK Boys 0 #67 2,415 12,905
AL 0 #73 4 2,372
JP 0 #73 5 4,057
AO 0 #74 4 2,729
AZ Girls 0 #75 1 1,051
MV Boys 0 #75 5 3,375
HK 0 #78 420 8,483
SI 0 #80 1 1,612
BG 0 #82 1 1,799
LT 0 #83 6 949
MO Girls 0 #84 203 7,056
RS 0 #84 1 923
AF Girls 0 #85 10 2,402
GE Girls 0 #89 16 1,564
ID Girls 0 #89 10 3,319
BN Girls 0 #91 16 5,459
JM 0 #91 3 3,714
KZ 0 #94 1 1,452
TW Girls 0 #100 209 8,139
QA 0 #101 6 7,011
TW Boys 0 #103 174 7,111
GE Boys 0 #106 5 2,055
PH 0 #106 5 5,607
MO Boys 0 #113 120 5,842
HU 0 #115 1 1,675
OM 0 #119 3 6,215
BN Boys 0 #121 13 6,332
EC 0 #121 1 2,502
KW 0 #121 1 5,216
CY Girls 0 #125 1 3,755
EE Boys 0 #125 1 2,087
MU 0 #127 10 3,613
CY Boys 0 #131 1 3,473
IQ 0 #131 3 3,533
ID Boys 0 #132 4 4,130
RS Girls 0 #135 3 1,651
PA 0 #136 3 3,797
MY 0 #137 213 12,352
EE Girls 0 #138 5 1,888
SG Boys 0 #139 1,144 17,960
LT Boys 0 #140 11 2,166
BW Girls 0 #143 9 4,216
MT Girls 0 #147 7 3,773
BW Boys 0 #151 4 4,685
RS Boys 0 #154 1 2,277
CR 0 #161 5 5,526
LU Girls 0 #162 24 4,850
HU Boys 0 #164 11 3,954
PR Girls 0 #166 2 3,171
Sweden Girls 2022 #168 12 1,568
LT Girls 0 #169 26 1,904
SI Girls 0 #172 6 2,769
MT Boys 0 #178 2 4,064
MY Girls 0 #178 2,004 24,821
HR 0 #179 3 2,081
AE 0 #181 7 10,220
UY 0 #181 2 2,477
CZ 0 #183 4 3,154
Sweden Boys 2014 #185 2 1,448
RU 0 #187 8 3,641
AR 0 #192 2 2,915
Austria 0 #201 13 850
RU Girls 0 #204 494 11,913
DK 0 #205 2 5,198
SI Boys 0 #205 7 3,402
PL 0 #206 7 2,600
AL Girls 0 #211 12 4,141
AO Girls 0 #211 7 4,575
LU Boys 0 #216 5 4,970
BD 0 #218 10 5,992
HU Girls 0 #219 7 3,308
BG Boys 0 #220 1 3,850
JP Girls 0 #220 26 6,592
PS 0 #220 7 5,692
AO Boys 0 #221 22 5,568
BG Girls 0 #223 9 3,559
IR 0 #223 9 4,221
PT 0 #226 21 4,161
NA Girls 0 #231 7 7,146
GH 0 #241 8 5,396
EC Boys 0 #245 2 3,322
GR Girls 0 #249 1 6,293
NA Boys 0 #249 5 6,830
HR Boys 0 #252 8 3,997
KZ Boys 0 #252 38 6,578
EC Girls 0 #254 5 3,650
QA Girls 0 #255 62 15,378
IL 0 #260 15 6,291
DZ 0 #262 2,645 20,130
KZ Girls 0 #268 53 5,862
JP Boys 0 #275 23 7,909
JM Girls 0 #277 2 7,507
AL Boys 0 #281 18 5,122
CZ Boys 0 #283 22 6,530
SA 0 #285 11 10,560
HR Girls 0 #288 7 3,687
Canada Girls 2003 #289 5 2,527
Canada Boys 1998 #289 5 1,858
JM Boys 0 #291 3 6,876
PE 0 #292 19 6,350
MU Girls 0 #296 56 8,539
DK Girls 0 #303 14 7,429
PT Girls 0 #307 155 7,952
GH Girls 0 #315 10 6,973
PL Girls 0 #316 39 5,096
BR 0 #321 25 5,969
CZ Girls 0 #326 16 5,378
DK Boys 0 #326 7 7,401
PH Girls 0 #330 61 13,098
JO Girls 0 #334 6 7,570
SD Girls 0 #334 12 7,678
GT 0 #335 4 5,948
PL Boys 0 #336 5 6,459
BD Girls 0 #342 45 8,413
OM Girls 0 #343 54 15,987
Germany 0 #348 91 2,542
PH Boys 0 #348 36 11,440
Austria Girls 0 #350 71 1,885
Finland Girls 0 #352 40 1,368
TN 0 #353 822 13,765
PT Boys 0 #354 14 7,951
GH Boys 0 #355 7 8,138
AE Girls 0 #358 197 20,968
MU Boys 0 #361 9 8,477
BO 0 #369 13 6,868
YE 0 #372 10 8,639
NL 0 #376 16 2,481
IQ Girls 0 #380 125 11,303
JO Boys 0 #384 6 7,057
France Boys 2018 #387 3 2,908
EG 0 #391 10 6,387
MX 0 #392 22 8,339
CL 0 #400 12 6,867
France Girls 2017 #402 3 3,248
RU Boys 0 #403 103 12,621
Finland Boys 0 #412 16 2,041
UY Boys 0 #413 1 5,922
Germany Girls 0 #419 555 4,949
SD Boys 0 #420 26 10,523
Spain 0 #428 25 2,326
Austria Boys 0 #431 12 2,180
CR Girls 0 #431 102 11,342
CO 0 #447 34 7,768
PA Girls 0 #448 34 9,861
AR Boys 0 #452 16 7,628
GT Boys 0 #460 15 7,625
PA Boys 0 #465 17 9,305
IR Girls 0 #466 65 8,334
MY Boys 0 #469 860 25,439
ZA 0 #471 4 14,421
KW Girls 0 #477 39 19,177
PS Girls 0 #477 47 10,981
CR Boys 0 #478 10 10,188
MA 0 #478 1,077 20,986
UY Girls 0 #489 22 6,731
GT Girls 0 #492 14 7,500
LY 0 #498 38 12,703
BH 0 #504 50 17,937
AR Girls 0 #512 88 8,289
BD Boys 0 #519 58 10,045
BO Girls 0 #521 91 9,488
CM Girls 0 #521 20 11,671
IR Boys 0 #524 29 10,162
PS Boys 0 #526 23 10,655
IL Girls 0 #528 90 11,648
CM Boys 0 #532 19 12,054
IL Boys 0 #573 35 10,983
BO Boys 0 #577 16 9,244
IQ Boys 0 #618 50 13,071
IN Girls 0 #621 11 13,121
CL Boys 0 #629 37 13,390
Finland Girls 2026 #638 101 3,895
LB 0 #642 17 13,263
IT 0 #649 66 4,183
QA Boys 0 #674 34 18,093
Finland Boys 2026 #676 7 3,552
PE Girls 0 #713 235 14,861
SY 0 #718 11 11,684
EG Girls 0 #724 239 14,742
BR Boys 0 #726 26 12,213
BR Girls 0 #733 212 12,708
NL Girls 0 #736 221 5,933
KW Boys 0 #744 26 18,755
EG Boys 0 #753 134 15,035
Spain Girls 0 #760 225 5,561
CL Girls 0 #764 88 14,098
NG Girls 0 #768 19 15,093
IT Girls 0 #775 871 9,415
PE Boys 0 #776 103 14,506
SA Girls 0 #791 145 25,931
OM Boys 0 #825 57 17,948
Spain Boys 0 #847 84 5,610
CO Girls 0 #851 232 16,140
NL Boys 0 #865 87 5,873
CO Boys 0 #875 46 15,656
Germany Boys 0 #878 75 5,697
United States Boys 2023 #893 6 7,053
NG Boys 0 #914 38 16,906
United States Girls 2009 #928 6 9,986
MX Boys 0 #932 51 16,355
MX Girls 0 #937 250 17,781
IN Boys 0 #981 21 16,750
IT Boys 0 #1,029 452 10,046
AE Boys 0 #1,041 52 22,615
ZA Girls 0 #1,044 98 25,928
ZA Boys 0 #1,081 98 25,619
TR 0 #1,137 75 19,440
SA Boys 0 #1,450 165 28,008

Li is popular in 90 countries — most recent births per country:

France
Sweden
United States
Canada
Ireland

Did we miss something about this name? Let us know!

People also ask about Li

Li is a unisex name, given to both boys and girls.
Li is a one syllable name, pronounced Commonly 'Lee' /liː/. Mandarin: Lǐ (李) [lǐ] (3rd tone). Cantonese: Lei (Jyutping lei5) [lei]. Korean: Lee/이 pronounced [i] (often romanized 'Lee'). Vietnamese: Lý pronounced [li]..
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Li (pinyin), Lee, Lei, Lý, Leigh and Yi.
Across languages, Li has these equivalents: Chinese 李 (Li), Korean 이/리 (Lee/Ri), English/Irish Lee/Leigh (spelling equivalents).
Yes, very popular — Li ranked #1 in Ireland in 2006, and appears in official birth registries across 7 countries.
Li ranks highest in Ireland (#1 in 2006).
Yes — 4 notable people named Li are in our database, including Li Keqiang (Politician), Gong Li (Actor), Li Si (Politician).
Yes — at least 1 celebrity couple has chosen Li for their child, including Faye Wong and Li Yapeng.