Pilar
Masculine · “pillar”
Pilar is given to both — 753 boys and 5,505 girls since 1880. See Pilar as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Pilar is Spanish for a pillar, recorded here for boys and girls alike. It is a title of the Virgin, and the tradition behind it makes a claim that no other Marian apparition does.
How old is the name Pilar?
Pilar first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Pilar alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 400 people named Pilar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pilar most popular?
Pilar peaked in 1951, reaching #1598 nationally. See the whole 1951 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Pilar
The tradition says that the apostle James was preaching by the Ebro at Zaragoza, discouraged, and that the Virgin appeared to him there and left behind a column of jasper as a sign. The unusual part is the date: she is said to have been alive in Jerusalem at the time, which makes this a bilocation rather than an apparition after death, and it is the only major Marian devotion that makes that claim. A pillar is kept in the basilica there and is the focus of a festival in October that fills the city. The name is enormously common in Spain and is one of a set taken directly from titles rather than from personal names.
Meaning
pillar
The Spanish word means a pillar or column, and the name comes from a title of the Virgin attached to one. The reading is settled and not disputed.
Pronouncing Pilar
pee-LAR
Two syllables with the weight on the second. English readers regularly stress the first instead.
Nicknames for Pilar
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1913
- Most boys named
- 195122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1598reached in 1951
- Change vs 2004
- 0.0%6 in 2008, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Pilar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pilar in Spanish — same name
Pilars among us
people named Pilar are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Pilar sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and can be given in one word.
- It is thoroughly ordinary in Spain and genuinely rare in the United States.
- Pili is a ready short form that every Spanish-speaking household recognizes.
- English readers will put the stress in the wrong place on first sight.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- It is a strongly religious name in origin, which is a feature for many families and a consideration for others.
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Pilar
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Pilars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Pilar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pilar in 2025?
- Pilar is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Pilar with classmates?
- Pilar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pilar? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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