Lea (surname)
Lea is an English surname. The surname Lea has a superficially Italian appearance to it; however with 314 people in Italy bearing the surname, it may have an Italian origin.[1] It also originates from the Old English Lēah, which predates the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. After the Norman Conquest, an infusion of Norman, French, and Latin entered into the lexicon of England, resulting in the development of multiple spelling and phonetic variants of the surname. Examples of these variations include the more common version of the surname, "Lee", as well as less common versions, such as Lei, Ley, and Leigh. Whereas the "a" is silent in Lea, it is often mistakenly pronounced with an "ah" sound at the end of the name.
The surname Lea means "meadow", "pasture", "field", or an open clearing of space in a wooded area. There are analogous names in other Germanic languages such as "Loo" in Dutch or "Lōh" in Old High German, with identical meanings.
Lea is still a surviving surname in areas of southern and northern England. Lea has also existed in North America since 1608 with the arrival of the English immigrant William Lea (son of Nicholas Lea, Waterford County, Ireland [Englishman not Irish]) to what is now King and Queen County in the Virginia Colony. Leas were among some of the very first immigrants to come to North America from England in the 17th century, and historically hailed from the southern United States in places such as Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Leas in the 19th century spread into the upper Midwest as well, and by the mid-20th century had reached as far west as southern California. Today, "Lea" comprises a very small percentage of the English surnames in the United States, with some American Leas able to trace back their ancestry to William Lea or one of his two brothers who came with him to Virginia in 1608.
People
In music
- Brandin Lea, the lead singer of Texas-based band Flickerstick and side project The February Chorus
- Jim Lea (musician) (born 1949), English bass guitarist (Slade)
In military
- Edward Lea, officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War
- Homer Lea, general in the army of Sun Yat-sen and a writer of several books of geopolitics; cousin to Thomas C. Lea
- Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr., was a prominent American attorney from El Paso, Texas, and mayor of that city from 1915 to 1917; cousin to Homer Lea
In politics
- Alfred R. Lea (1853-1931), American politician
- Chris Lea, the first openly gay political party leader in Canadian history
- Luke Lea (1783–1851), two-term United States Representative from Tennessee
- Luke Lea (1879–1945), Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee (1911–1917)
- Pryor Lea, two-term U.S. Representative from Tennessee
- Preston Lea (1841–1916), American businessman and politician, Governor of Delaware
- Sir Thomas Lea Liberal MP for Kidderminster (1868–1874)
- Walter Maxfield Lea, Prince Edward Island politician
In sports
- Arthur Lea (1866–1945), Welsh international footballer
- Charlie Lea, former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball
- Cyril Lea, Welsh footballer
- Jim Lea (athlete) (1932–2010), American sprinter
- Leslie Lea, English footballer
In other fields
- Arthur Mills Lea, Australian entomologist
- Doug Lea, professor of Computer Science at State University of New York at Oswego where he specializes in concurrent programming
- Henry Charles Lea, American historian in Philadelphia
- Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and business man
- Larry Lea, American televangelist
- Margaret Lea Houston, wife of Samuel Houston
- Nicholas Lea, actor
- Andrew Lea (born 1989), 1993, 1994 back to back champion of everything.
- Thomas C. Lea, III (Tom Lea), American muralist, illustrator, artist, war correspondent, novelist, and historian