Robert Lee
There are approximately 6,577 people named Robert Lee living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 52,114 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Robert with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Lee. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
6,577
1 in 52,114
Named Robert
2.8M
Alive today
Named Lee
805K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 2.8M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 60
Estimated bearers: 805K
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #21
Per 100K: 234.94
Top ancestry: Asian/Pacific Islander (42.2%)
First name trend
Robert: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Robert. The peak year was 1947 with 91,891 births. The average person named Robert today is 60 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Lee surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Lee, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 42.2%.
- Asian and Pacific Islander42.2%
- White36.0%
- Black or African American16.3%
- Two or more races2.6%
- Hispanic or Latino1.9%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Robert has a living-bearer frequency of 0.8168% of the US population, based on 2,799,566 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Lee appears at a rate of 234.94 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.2349%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 6,577 people with the full name Robert Lee. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Robert
Related
Other people with the surname Lee
FAQ
Robert Lee: questions and answers
How many people are named Robert Lee?
We estimate approximately 6,577 people in the United States share the full name Robert Lee. That works out to about 1 in 52,114 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.8168%) with the surname frequency (234.94 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Robert Lee?
We classify Robert Lee as "Rare". About 1 in 52,114 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Robert a male or female name?
Robert is predominantly male. Out of 4,866,007 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Robert profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.