Explore the Family Name Pillay

The meaning of Pillay

Indian: variant of Pillai. Some characteristic forenames: Indian Mohan, Rajeev, Sanjay, Sasi, Anand, Anil, Balakrishna, Dev, Gautam, Kavita, Narendra, Rajendra.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Pillay in the United States?

The surname Pillay has seen a significant increase in popularity according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The rank of the name climbed from 48,196 in 2000 to 39,419 in 2010, which is an 18.21 percent rise. In terms of count, the number of people bearing this surname increased from 412 to 558 during the same period, marking a 35.44 percent increase. Consequently, the proportion of the surname per 100k also rose by 26.67 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#48,196	#39,419	18.21%
Count	412	558	35.44%
Proportion per 100k	0.15	0.19	26.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pillay

As for the ethnic identity associated with the surname Pillay, most bearers identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, although there was a slight decrease from 69.42 percent in 2000 to 68.28 percent in 2010. The next largest group identifying with two or more races saw a substantial decrease of 34.61 percent. There was a slight increase in those identifying as White from 5.83 percent to 6.63 percent. While the percentage of Hispanic and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities were suppressed or dropped to zero, Black ethnicity representation saw a dramatic increase from 3.88 percent to 10.04 percent. These changes reflect the evolving ethnic composition of individuals with the surname Pillay based on the Decennial U.S. Census data.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	69.42%	68.28%	-1.64%
Two or More Races	16.99%	11.11%	-34.61%
Black	3.88%	10.04%	158.76%
White	5.83%	6.63%	13.72%
Hispanic	2.67%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.21%	0%	0%