Pillai (surname)
Pillai or Pillay is a surname found among the Malayalam and Tamil-speaking people of India and Sri Lanka.
Origin
The term Pillai literally means "child" in the Tamil language. [1] Tamil inscriptions define the direct meaning of Pillai as "Child of King" (prince), denoting nobility.[2] The title occur both as a single name or as a suffix to the name. This title has been in traditional use by the communities such as the Agamudayars, Isai Vellalars, Koviyars, Karaiyars, Nairs and the Vellalars.[3][4][5]
People
Notable people with this surname or its variants include:
- Ashan Pillai (born in Sri Lanka, 1969), British violist and academic
- A. R. Pillai (1879–1938), Indian freedom fighter
- Anton Sebastianpillai (1944/5–2020), author and consultant geriatrician
- Ananda Ranga Pillai (1709–1761), dubash in the service of French East India Company
- Ariranga Pillay (born 1945), former Chief Justice and briefly Acting President of Mauritius
- Arumuka Navalar, born as Kandarpillai Arumugapillai, a Sri Lankan Hindu reformer
- Bastiampillai Anthonipillai Thomas (1886–1964), Sri Lankan Tamil priest and founder of Rosarians Order
- Bastiampillai Deogupillai (1917–2003), Sri Lankan Tamil Roman Catholic bishop
- B. Ravi Pillai (born 1953), Indian entrepreneur
- C. W. Thamotharampillai (1832–1901), publisher of ancient Tamil texts
- Candice Pillay (born 1981), singer and songwriter
- Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, Malayalam poet
- Chempakaraman Pillai (1891–1934), freedom fighter from Travancore of Tamil descent
- Chinna Migapillai, 17th century feudal lord and rebel leader from the Jaffna Kingdom
- Devasahayam Pillai (1712–1752), Indian court official, controversial convert to Christianity
- Dhanraj Pillay (born 1968), Indian hockey player
- G. P. Pillai (1864–1903), barrister, established the first English newspaper in South India
- G. Parameswaran Pillai (1890–1963), Dewan of Travancore
- Gooty Kesava Pillai (1860–1933), Indian journalist and freedom-fighter. Delegate from Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh at the first session of the Indian National Congress.
- K. C. Pillai (1900–1970), Bishop-at-large of the Indian Orthodox Church, Antiochean Succession, Chennai (Madras), India
- K. Appavu Pillai (1911–1973), Indian politician
- K. C. Sreedharan Pillai (1920–1985), Indian mathematician
- K. Perumal Pillai, Indian politician
- K. Thamboosamy Pillay (1850–1902), a prominent member of the Tamil community in British Malaya
- Kavimani Desigavinayagam Pillai (1876–1954), Indian freedom fighter, poet
- L. D. Swamikannu Pillai (1865–1925), Indian astronomer, Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly
- M. M. Pareed Pillay, former Chief Justice of Kerala
- M. P. Narayana Pillai (1939–1998), Malayalam writer
- M. K. Mackar Pillay (1880–1966), Indian industrialist and politician
- Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai (1855–1897), eminent writer in Tamil literature; his poem "Niraarum Kadal Udutha" is the official Tamil Anthem
- Maraimalai Adigal (Nagai Vedachalam Pillai, 1876–1950), eminent Tamil orator and writer, started Pure Tamil movement Tanittamil Iyakkam
- Marimutthu Pillai (1712–1787), musician
- Maruthanayagam Pillai (1725–1764), Indian soldier and administrator also known as Muhammed Yusuf Khan
- Murali Pillai, Singaporean politician of Indian descent
- Nadakkal Parameswaran Pillai (born 1931), leader of Indian Coffee House movement
- Naraina Pillai, social entrepreneur and businessman
- Navanethem Pillay (born 1941), South African judge, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Nisha Pillai, Indian-born journalist and BBC news anchor
- P. Govinda Pillai (1926–2012), Communist Party of India leader
- P. K. Narayana Pillai, scholar of Sanskrit and Malayalam literature
- Palani Subramaniam Pillai (1908–1962), Carnatic music percussionist
- Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai (1890–1971), Indian freedom fighter
- Pattom A. Thanu Pillai (1885–1970), Second Chief Minister of unified Kerala, Communist leader
- Periyapillai, 16th century king of the Jaffna Kingdom
- Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai, 18th-century minister of Ramnad during the reign of Muthuramalinga Sethupathy
- Prem Nath Pillai (born 1982), Malaysia-based filmmaker and editor
- R. Balakrishna Pillai (1935–2021), State minister in Kerala
- Rajmohan Pillai (born 1964), Indian businessman
- Rhea Pillai, Indian model
- Sreekanteswaram Padmanabha Pillai (1864–1946), lexicographer
- Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai (1901–1950), Indian mathematician
- Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai (1878–1916), journalist and political activist. Translated Karl Marx's biography into Malayalam
- T. S. Ramasamy Pillai (1918–2006), Freedom-fighter, politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)
- Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (1912–1999), Malayalam author
- Trevin Callistus Bastiampillai (born 1985), Sri Lankan Canadian cricketer
- V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai (born 1949), current Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
- V. O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936), Indian freedom fighter, popularly known as V.O.C. and as Kappalottiya Tamilan
- Venkatarama Ramalingam Pillai (Namakkal Kavignar Ramalingam Pillai, 1888–1972), poet and freedom fighter
References
- Conference, Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe International; Parpola, Asko (1994). Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae. Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. p. 580. ISBN 9789514107290.
- Sircar, Dineschandra (1966). Indian Epigraphical Dictionary. p. 166. ISBN 9788120805620.
- Pandian, Jacob (1987). Caste, Nationalism and Ethnicity: An Interpretation of Tamil Cultural History and Social Order. Popular Prakashan. p. 110. ISBN 9780861321360.
- University, Vijaya Ramaswamy, Jawaharlal Nehru (2017-08-25). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 268. ISBN 9781538106860.
- Pfister, Raymond (1995). Soixante ans de pentecôtisme en Alsace (1930-1990): une approche socio-historique. P. Lang. p. 166. ISBN 9783631486207.
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