Qian (surname)
Qian is a common Chinese surname. In Mandarin it’s pronounced qián, and it has various spellings such as Ch'ien, Chien, Chin, Tsien, and Zee. The character 錢 literally relates to money and cash coins; the simplified form 钱 also means money.
Origin legends say the surname came from a Zhou official named Fu who worked in the royal treasury, the Qianfu. His descendants took the surname from that office. Fu was said to be a descendant of Pengzu, a legendary marquis, who traced back to Zhuanxu, a grandson of the Yellow Emperor. The Qian family is linked to Peng and is thought to have originated around Peng, in Jiangsu, with a strong presence in the Jiangnan region near the Yangtze River Delta.
From 907 to 960, Qian Liu and his descendants ruled the independent Kingdom of Wuyue, covering parts of present-day Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, and northern Fujian. After 978, Qian Chu submitted to the Song dynasty; members of the Qian family moved to the Song capital and remained influential at court, helping spread the name across central and northern China. In the Song era, the surname Qian ranked second in the Hundred Family Surnames list, behind Zhao.
Today, Qian is especially common in Jiangnan. In 2008, it was the 96th most common surname in mainland China, shared by about 2.2 million people. The name can also carry meanings related to money, value, or coins, and historically has sometimes referred to metal tools related to money.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 00:32 (CET).