The Tian surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,547 people carried this name — #9,195 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 83,300 people counted. That is up 116% from 1,645 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Tian surname
The pinyin romanization of Mandarin 田 (Tián).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Tian» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
98 people named Tian live in Switzerland.
They live in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 56 people named Tian.
9 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 4 départements, most often Bouches-du-Rhône.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 33 people named Tian live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in City of Buenos Aires.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 22 people named Tian live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Flemish Brabant.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
137 people named Tian is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Tian in American newspapers,
1920.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 689,266 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Tian,
with a public archive behind them.
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Lord Mengchang d. -278 · politician -
Tian Hua d. 800 · politician
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Tian Zhang d. 860 · poet
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Tian Hongyu d. 1643 · military personnel
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Tian Xiang d. 1861 · politician
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Tian Fengyi d. 1797 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 8 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Tian.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Tian is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.