Pillar Family History
Pillar Name Meaning
English (Devon): topographic name for a dweller by a stream from an agent derivative of Middle English pil(e) pel(e) pul(e) ‘stream creek’ see Pill . English (Devon): topographic name for a dweller by a stake or post (for fastening a boat for example) from an agent derivative of Middle English pil(e) pila pille ‘stake pile’. English (Devon): nickname from Middle English pilour piller pelour peler (Old French pilleur) ‘thief’. According to the East Anglian glossary Promptorium Parvulorum (about 1440) it was used of rent collectors and taxmen: ‘Pylowre or he that pelyth [robs] other men as cachpolls or odyre lyk pilator depredator’. Cornish and English: variant of Peller .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022