The name Lee was carried to England in the enormous movement of people that followed the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Lee family lived in any of the various places named Leigh in England. There are at least 16 counties that contain a place named Leigh. The place-name was originally derived from the Old English word leah, which means wood clearing. [1] The English Lee family is descended from the Norman Lee family. The family name Lee became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, when William the Conqueror gave his friends and relatives most of the land formerly owned by Anglo-Saxon aristocrats. The Normans frequently adopted the names of their recently acquired estates in England.

In the United States, the name Lee is the 24th most popular surname with an estimated 547,140 people with that name.

Washington and Lee University is a National Historic Landmark in Lexington, Virginia. It was constructed during 1867–68 at the request of Robert E. Lee, who was president of the school (then known as Washington College), and after whom the university is, in part, named. The Victorian brick architectural design was probably the work of Lee's son, George Washington Custis Lee, with details contributed by Col. Thomas Williamson, an architect and professor of engineering at the neighboring Virginia Military Institute. 

Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. Washington and Lee's 325-acre campus sits at the edge of Lexington and abuts the campus of the Virginia Military Institute in the Shenandoah Valley region between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains.

The Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia, was the first installation on Monument Avenue in 1890, and would ultimately be the last monument removed from the site. Before its removal on September 8, 2021, the monument honored Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee, depicted on a horse atop a large marble base that stood over 60 feet (18 m) tall. Constructed in France and shipped to Virginia, it remained the largest installation on Monument Avenue for over a century; it was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2006

(1617-1664)

Society of Lees

Jamestowne Society A4806