Find out how popular the last name Tsien is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Tsien.

Tsien, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Tsien surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tsien in America

Tsien is the 118185th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tsien surname appeared 147 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Tsien.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tsien to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Tsien

The surname TSIEN originates from China and is a romanization of the Chinese surname 谘 or 钿. It dates back to the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) and is believed to have originated from the state of Lu, which is now part of Shandong Province.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the TSIEN surname can be found in the "Shiji" (Records of the Grand Historian), a monumental historical work written by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC. The book mentions a person named TSIEN Yinshu, who served as a minister during the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BC).

During the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), a prominent figure named TSIEN Wenchang (628–706 AD) held the position of a high-ranking official and poet. He is known for his contributions to the development of the civil service examination system in China.

Another notable individual with the TSIEN surname was TSIEN Hsueh-shen (1776–1848), a prominent scholar and philosopher during the Qing Dynasty. He was a leading figure in the Tongcheng School of Classical Studies and made significant contributions to the interpretation of Confucian texts.

In modern times, one of the most renowned individuals with the TSIEN surname was TSIEN Hsue-shen (1911–2009), a pioneering Chinese scientist and aerospace engineer. He played a crucial role in the development of China's missile and space programs and is often referred to as the "Father of Chinese Rocketry."

Historically, the TSIEN surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Tsien County (谘県) in Shandong Province and Tsien Village (谘村) in Anhui Province. These place names likely originated from the presence of TSIEN families in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tsien

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Tsien.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Tsien was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Tsien has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Tsien was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Tsien, please contact us.

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