Pilar
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Meaning
pillar (Spanish), honoring Our Lady of the Pillar
The story
Pilar means pillar in Spanish, but the name grew through a particular devotion. María del Pilar is a title of the Virgin Mary associated with Zaragoza, where tradition says Mary appeared to the apostle James standing upon a pillar. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar and the city's October festival keep that story in public life through processions, music, and an enormous offering of flowers. Literature gave Pilar a less ceremonial presence. In Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, she is the forceful, perceptive woman holding a guerrilla band together, able to read fear and command a room. The character is not a saintly emblem; she is earthy, contradictory, and alive. That makes the name's literal image more interesting. A pillar can be a monument, but it can also be the person doing the unnoticed work that keeps everyone else standing. Pili makes an affectionate short form, while Pilar itself needs no ornament.
How popular is Pilar around the world?
In the United States, 288 babies were named Pilar between 2020 and 2025. In Argentina, 2,591 newborns were given the name Pilar in 2024.
Pilar is on the official records of the United States, Argentina, Spain, Montevideo, Chile, Mexico City, France and Brazil.
United States
1 in 76,000
In the United States, 288 babies were named Pilar between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Pilar peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Argentina
1 in 260
In Argentina, 2,591 newborns were given the name Pilar in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 360
In Spain, 123,094 residents are named Pilar, the 31st most common name among women, with a mean age of 66.2 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Montevideo City
1 in 4602011
In Montevideo, 54 girls named Pilar were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Chile
1 in 4,900
In Chile, 36 girls were registered as Pilar in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Mexico City City
1 in 12,000
In Mexico City, there were 10 registrations of Pilar in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
France
1 in 130,000
In France, about 5 girls named Pilar were born in 2025, ranked 4,499th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Brazil
1 in 140,000
At the 2022 census, 1,450 people in Brazil were named Pilar, ranked 6,414th, with a median age of 21.
Among people named Pilar living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 250 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Austria
last on record 2022
Pilar is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
England and Wales
last on record 2016
Pilar is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Poland
last on record 2016
Pilar is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Puerto Rico
last on record 1998
Pilar is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 5 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
South Australia
last on record 1977
Pilar is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Pilar
Most people given the name Pilar in the United States were born between 1960 and 2009. The Pilar you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Pilar travels
Mexican American · pillar (from Nuestra Senora del Pilar); a strong, graceful devotional name
Spanish · pillar, foundation
Keep exploring
Spanish baby names · Filipino baby names · Mexican American baby names
The Pilar deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Pilar truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Pilar fits with your family’s names and surname.
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