Lee Dela Torre in Chinese / Japanese...

李小龍 is the real full name of Bruce Lee.

Many people have no idea that Bruce Lee had a “real” Chinese name. In Mandarin and Cantonese, he is known as “Lǐ XiǎoLóng” and “Léi SíuLùng” respectively.

He kept his family name pronunciation (Li = Lee). 李 is a common family name that also means “plum.”

His given name 小龍 (Xiao-Long), literally means “little dragon.” 李小龍 is why you often see the character for dragon associated with Bruce Lee on various posters etc.

For a pronunciation lesson, the “X” in Romanized Mandarin is pronounced like a “sh” sound but with your tongue at the bottom of your mouth. The vowel sound in “Long” is like the English “oh,” not like the “ah” sound in the English word “long.”

If you are a big Bruce Lee fan, you should know this information, and you should have this wall scroll hanging in your room or martial arts studio.

Note: Japanese use these same Chinese characters / Kanji to write Bruce Lee's real name (with different pronunciation - which is a bit like how the name “Bruce Lee” sounds in English).

See Also:  Kung Fu | Martial Arts

德拉克魯茲 is the name Dela-Cruz or Delacruz in Chinese (Mandarin).

デラクルス is the name Delacruz or Dela-Cruz in Japanese Katakana.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

ヘーリーリー is the name Hailey-Lee in Japanese (Katakana).

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

李艾拉 is the name Lee'Ella in Chinese (Mandarin).

リーエラ is the name Lee-Ella in Japanese (Katakana).

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

This is the most common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the feminine western name Lee.

麗 means “pretty” or “beautiful.”

Note: This can sometimes be used as a female given name in China. It is not the only given name that sounds like Lee or Li in China. For instance, this is a completely different character than the one used for Bruce Lee’s name.

This is an alternate transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the feminine western name Lee.

莉 means “jasmine,” as in the flower.

Note: This can sometimes be used as a female given name in China. It is not the only given name that sounds like Lee or Li in China.

リー is the name Lee in Japanese.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

This is the most common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the masculine western name Lee.

力 means “power” or “strength.”

Note: This can sometimes be used as a male given name in China. It is not the only given name that sounds like Lee or Li in China.

This is an alternate transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the masculine western name Lee.

理 means “reason,” “logic” or sometimes, “science.”

Note: This can sometimes be used as a male given name in China. It is not the only given name that sounds like Lee or Li in China.

This is the most common Chinese character which sounds like “Lee” or “Li” and is used as a surname / family name in China.

李 actually means “Plum.” So it's really Mr. Plum and Mrs. Plum if you translated the name instead of romanizing.

This is not the only character in Chinese that can be romanized as “Lee” or “Li.” If your family name is “Lee” or “Li” please be sure this is the correct character before you order this scroll (look at your grandparents' Chinese passports or other documents if you are an ABC and are trying to create a heritage wall scroll).

Famous people with this surname include Bruce Lee (Li Xiao-Long), Minister Li Peng, and famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. In Korea, this is the original character for a surname that romanizes as “Yi.”

Note: This also one version of Lee that is a common Korean surname. However, it’s often romanized as "Yi" and sometimes as "Ri" or "Rhee."