The surname is pronounced as [lej˩˧] (Jyutping: Lei5) in Cantonese, Lí (poj) in Taiwanese Hokkien, but is often spelled as "Lee" in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand and many overseas Chinese communities.

Li, Lee 李 is one of the most common surnames in Asia, shared by more than 93 million people in China,[5] or about 7.4% of the Chinese population.

[citation needed] In 2019 Li was the most common surname in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hubei and Hunan.

[10] In provinces such as Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Yunnan, more than 8.8% of the local population are surnamed Li.

Comparatively speaking, in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hainan, as well as Taiwan, only 2.2 to 6.6% of the population share the surname.

During the Xia dynasty, Gao Yao's descendants adopted Li (理) as their surname, from the title Dali (meaning "great judge").

[4] In 304 AD, the Ba leader Li Xiong (Emperor Wu) established Cheng Han, the first Li-surnamed dynasty in history.

One of the most prosperous and influential dynasties in Chinese history, Tang was ruled by 20 emperors surnamed Li.

[15][16] The Tang emperors liberally granted the royal surname to favoured generals, officials, and their clans, such as Xu Shiji, Du Fuwei, and Guo Zihe (郭子和).

Li is the fifth of the twelve most common surnames of the Yao people, who adopted the name more than 800 years ago.

The second is the Gyeongju Lee clan, which was founded by Yi Al-pyeong, 이알평), one of the village headmen who chose Park Hyeokgeose as the first King of Silla.

According to the Samguk Sagi, the Yi name was officially bestowed on the family by King Yuri of Silla around 9 BCE.

Lý Nam Đế (Li Nan Di), as an ethnic Chinese, ruled as an emperor of Vietnam.

[17] There are historically twelve prominent clans (junwang, 郡望) of Li, the most famous being those of the Longxi and Zhao commanderies.

[18] In 2010, a group of nine large tombs of the Zhao clan were discovered in Zanhuang County, dating from the Northern Dynasties.

[19] The Zhao clan remained the most prominent branch of the Li until it was surpassed by the Longxi during the Tang dynasty.

Centuries later, the Tang emperors traced their ancestry to the Longxi clan, making it the most prominent branch ever since.

There were approximately 5.6 million people with the surname, or 7.2% of the total population at the time, with large concentrations in the northern provinces of Hebei, Henan, and Shandong.

[4] After Chinese began immigrating to the West, a significant population of Li's now reside in the United States.