Chien (name) explained
Chien is a romanisation of multiple Chinese surnames and Chinese given names.
Given name
- Angela Yu Chien (Chinese: 于倩; 1942–2004), Hong Kong actress
- Chien Yao (Chinese: 姚謙; born 1961), Taiwanese lyricist
- Chien Lee, American entrepreneur and sports team owner
Surname
Origins and statistics
As a surname, Chien is the Wade–Giles romanisation of a number of surnames spelled Jian in Hanyu Pinyin, as well as a variant spelling of surnames spelled Qian in Pinyin (Ch'ien in Wade Giles):[1] [2]
- Jiǎn, adopted as a surname by some descendants of, who was later named Xu Jianpo (Chinese: 續簡伯).
- Jiǎn, which originated as an occupational surname from Chinese: jiǎnchá guān (Chinese: 檢察官), a Han dynasty post which could be translated as "Inspector General". Additionally some bearers of this surname changed their surname to the Jiǎn described above, which is homophonous in Mandarin Chinese, though not in other varieties of Chinese.
- Qián, literally meaning "money", also originated as an occupational surname, said to have been adopted by a holder of the post of treasurer during the Zhou Dynasty.
- Qiān
Data compiled by Patrick Hanks on the basis of the 2011 United Kingdom census and the Census of Ireland 2011 found 49 people with the surname Chien on the island of Great Britain and none on the island of Ireland. The 1881 United Kingdom census found one person with the surname Chien.[1] The 2010 United States Census found 3,756 people with the surname Chien, making it the 8,732nd-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase from 3,239 (9,257th-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, more than nine-tenths of the bearers of the surname identified as Asian, and roughly three per cent as non-Hispanic white.[3]
People
Entertainers
Politicians
Scientists
Sportspeople
Other
- John C. T. Chien (Chinese: 簡啟聰; 1940–2013), Taiwanese Episcopalian bishop
- Raymond Chien (Chinese: 錢果豐; born 1952), Hong Kong businessman
- Carl Chien (Chinese: 錢國維; born 1964), Taiwanese businessman
- Sansan Chien (Chinese: 簡郁珊; 1967–2011), Taiwanese composer
- Chien Wen-pin (Chinese: 簡文彬; born 1971), Taiwanese conductor
- Colleen V. Chien (born 1973), American law professor
- Hank Chien (born 1974), American plastic surgeon who formerly held a world record score in the video game Donkey Kong
- Chien Shan-hua (Chinese: 錢善華;), Taiwanese musicologist
- Alec Chien, Hong Kong pianist
- Catia Chien, Brazilian children's book illustrator
Notes and References
- Book: Patrick. Hanks. Richard. Coates. Peter. McClure. The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. 2016. 9780192527479. 492.
- Book: Chao, Sheau-yueh J.. Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company. 2000. 35. 9780806349466.
- Web site: How common is your last name?. Newsday. 5 September 2018.
