# Pillai (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/pillai/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Tamil.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Tamil |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,944 |
| US rank (2010) | 15,163 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 158,820 people |
| Change since 2000 | +55% (1,257 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Pillay |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Tamil பிள்ளை (piḷḷai).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Pillai in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 4.1% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 0.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 91% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 3.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Pillai in the United Kingdom.

## People named Pillai

- Simone Ashley, British actress

## Similar surnames

Pillow, Pilla, Pile, Palla, Pillay, Pilley, Powell, Paul, Poole, Pyle, Pool, Pauley.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.