Frequency: (152)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. German: byname for a quiet or slow person, from Middle High German līse, linse ‘quiet’, ‘soft’, ‘slow’.
2. Latvian: unexplained.
GIVEN NAMES: German 6%. Helmut (2), Alfons.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.



