Chinese:: Mandarin form of the surname 錢 meaning ‘money’ in Chinese: from Qian (錢) the name of a post held by officials in charge of the national treasury during the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC). Mandarin form of the surname 騫 from the second element of Zi Qian (子騫) style name of Min Sun a student of Confucius (551–479 BC). Mandarin form of the surname 潛 meaning ‘lurk” in Chinese: habitational name from the placename Qian (潛) the name of an ancient state (possibly located in present-day Anhui province). Mandarin form of the surname 千 meaning ‘thousand’ in Chinese: borne by descendants of Yang Qian Li (楊千里) also known as King of Bai Qing during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD) who changed his original surname Yang (楊) to Qian (千).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022