The name Li is Chinese and means 'possessing great strength' or 'one of great strength'. It can be used as both a boys or girls name.
Li is one of the most common surnames in Asia, shared by 92.76 million people in China, and more than 100 million in Asia. It is the second-most common surname in China as of 2018, the second-most common surname in Hong Kong, and the 5th most common surname in Taiwan, where it is usually romanized as "Lee".
Li (丽). Li is one of the top Chinese girl names that mean “pretty.” This sweet name is pronounced LEE.
The name Li is primarily a gender-neutral name of Chinese origin that means Pretty, Powerful. If used for a female, this name means "pretty." For a male, "powerful."
Meaning & History
From Chinese 理 (lǐ) meaning "reason, logic", 立 (lì) meaning "stand, establish", 黎 (lí) meaning "black, dawn", 力 (lì) meaning "power, capability, influence" (which is usually only masculine) or 丽 (lì) meaning "beautiful" (usually only feminine).
The name Li is Chinese and means 'possessing great strength' or 'one of great strength'. It can be used as both a boys or girls name.
Lì is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 利 in Chinese character. It is pronounced Lei in Cantonese, and often spelled Lei in Hong Kong and overseas-Chinese communities. It is listed 364th in the Song dynasty classic Hundred Family Surnames. As of 2008, Li is the 299th most common surname in China.
Popularity of the name Li
The name Li is ranked #7172 overall.
What is the meaning of the name Li Mei? The name Li Mei is primarily a female name of Chinese origin that means Pretty Rose.
lithium (Li), chemical element of Group 1 (Ia) in the periodic table, the alkali metal group, lightest of the solid elements.
The Hlai, also known as Li or Lizu, are a Kra–Dai-speaking ethnic group, one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The vast majority live off the southern coast of China on Hainan Island, where they are the largest minority ethnic group.
A Chinese person's name consists of a 姓 (xìng) – family name, and a 名 (míng) – given name, and does not have any space in between them when written in characters. The family name, which is usually one character (syllable) inherited from one's father, always comes before the given name.
Chinese naming conventions arrange names as follows: [FAMILY NAME] [given name]. For example, ZHANG Chen (male) and WANG Xiu (female). The family name (or 'surname') is inherited from one's parents and shared with other members of the individual's immediate family .
However, Zhang Wei (张伟) is the most common full name in mainland China. The top five surnames in China – Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen – are also the top five surnames in the world, each with over 70-100 million worldwide.
Another factor exacerbating the increasing commonness of Chinese names is the government's efforts to standardize and regulate the language. Various dialects of Mandarin are spoken between the provinces, with some so different that speakers are unintelligible to each other.
Wang is the most popular surname in the world, as we just noted, which means it's also No. 1 in Asia. Li comes in a close second, though, with 105 million people having that surname.
li, Confucian concept often rendered as “ritual,” “proper conduct,” or “propriety.” Originally li denoted court rites performed to sustain social and cosmic order.
The Li language belongs to the Zhuang-Dong Branch of the Sino-Tibetan Family. Li is closely related to Zhuang, Shui, Dong, Dai, and Bouyei; the peoples are culturally similar in many ways as well. Although there is now a system for writing Li, most Li people make their written communications in Chinese.
The correct transliteration of the Chinese character 李 is li. "Lee" is an anglicized adoption of the same character, but does not follow pinyin rules. It's worth remembering that there are non-Chinese Lees as well, for example, Robert E. Lee.