List of Nairs

• Kingdom of Travancore
• Zamorin of Calicut
• Thekkumkur Kingdom
• Vadakkumkur Kingdom
• Chirakkal Raja
• Kadathanadu
• Kingdom of Venad
• Valluvanad
• Ernād
• Palakkad
• Kingdom of Kolathunadu
• Kavalappara Moopil Nayar

• Chattampi Swamikal[1] – Hindu Sage and Social Reformer
• Swami Chinmayananda[2] – Spiritual leader and founding father of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
• Tapovan Maharaj,[3] a Hindu sage and Vedanta Scholar.
• Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi, Founder of Anantha Mahasabha.
• Devasahayam Pillai[4] – Roman Catholic Saint canonized by the Church.

• Lakshmi Sahgal, popularly known as "Captain Lakshmi", was the leader of "Rani of Jhansi Regiment" of Indian National Army.
• N. P. Nayar, Administrator of Azad Hind Dal.
• K. P. Kesava Menon, Founder of Mathrubhumi, a Malayalam Daily
• K. Kelappan, freedom fighter, popularly known as "Kerala Gandhi".
• Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai, an Indian social reformer, freedom fighter, and the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS).
• K. Kumar, one of the earliest socio-political leaders who have brought Gandhi's message and the spirit of the national movement to the erstwhile Travancore State.

India

Diwan

• Raja Kesavadas, Diwan of Travancore Kingdom (1789-1798). Known as the "Maker of Modern Alleppey".
• Velu Thampi Dalawa, Diwan of Travancore Kingdom (1802-1809) and freedom fighter.
• Nanoo Pillai, Diwan of Travancore Kingdom (1877-1880).
• M Krishnan Nair, Diwan of Travancore Kingdom (1914-1920)
• P.G.N Unnithan, Diwan of Travancore Kingdom (1947-1948)
• Paliath Achan, Former Hereditary Prime Minister of Cochin Kingdom.
• Edamana Sankara Menon, Diwan of Kingdom of Cochin (1830–1834).

• T. Sankunni Menon, Diwan of Kingdom of Cochin (1860-1879).
• T. Govindan Menon, Diwan of Kingdom of Cochin (1879–1890).
• V.S Pillai, Diwan of Kingdom of Cochin (1893–1896).
• P. Narayana Menon, Diwan of Kingdom of Cochin (1922–1925).
• C. P. Karunakara Menon, Diwan of Kingdom of Cochin (1944–1947), Diwan of Pudukottai (1947-1948).

United Nations

• Shashi Tharoor, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (2001–2007). Current Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram Loksabha Constituency.
• V.K. Krishna Menon, Veteran Indian Diplomat, known for his 8-hour speech at UN Security Council on the Kashmir issue. Known as the 'Hero of Kashmir'. Architect of Non-Aligned Movement.

Union Ministers

• V.K. Krishna Menon, Former Union Minister of Defence (1957-1962).
• Panampilly Govinda Menon, Former Union Minister for Railways(1969-1970), Union Minister of Law (1967-1970), 1st Prime Minister of Cochin.
• K. Karunakaran, Former Union Minister of Industry (1995-1996), 5th Chief Minister of Kerala () (INC)
• Lakshmi N. Menon, Former Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs (1962-66). (INC)
• M. G. K. Menon, Former Minister of State for Science and Technology. (1989)
• K P Unnikrishnan, Former Minister for Telecommunications, Shipping and Surface Transport (1989-1990).
• O. Rajagopal, Former Minister of State in Third Vajpayee Ministry.(1999-2004) (BJP)
• Shashi Tharoor, Former Minister of State in the Second Manmohan Singh Ministry.
• K. C. Venugopal, Former Minister of State for Power, Civil Aviation (2011-2014).
• Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Current Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology (2021-present) (BJP).

Prime Ministers of Travancore/ Cochin, Chief Ministers of Travancore-Cochin

• Pattom Thanu Pillai, 1st Prime Minister of Travancore and 4th Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin.
• Paravur T K Narayana Pillai, 2nd Prime Minister of Travancore, 1st Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin.
• T K Nair, 2nd Prime Minister of Cochin.

Chief Ministers

• Pattom Thanu Pillai, 2nd Chief Minister of Kerala (PSP)
• C Achutha Menon,4th Chief Minister of Kerala. (CPI)
• K. Karunakaran, 5th Chief Minister of Kerala (INC)
• P K Vasudevan Nair,7th Chief Minister of Kerala. (CPI)
• E K Nayanar, 9th Chief Minister of Kerala. (CPI(M))
• M. G. Ramachandran, 3rd Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. (AIADMK)

Current Members of Parliament

• Rajmohan Unnithan, Member of Parliament from Kasargod Loksabha Constituency.(INC)
• K. Muralidharan, Member of Parliament from Vatakara Loksabha Constituency. (INC)
• M. K. Raghavan, Member of Parliament from Kozhikode Loksabha Constituency. (INC)
• V. K. Sreekandan, Member of Parliament from Palakkad Loksabha Constituency. (INC)
• N. K. Premachandran, Member of Parliament from Kollam Loksabha Constituency. (INC)
• Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Parliament, Rajyasabha from Karnataka. (BJP)
• K. C. Venugopal, Member of Parliament, Rajyasabha from Rajasthan. (INC)

Governors of States

• C V Ananda Bose, Current Governor of West Bengal.
• P S Sreedharan Pillai, Current Governor of Goa, former Governor of Mizoram. (BJP)
• Kummanam Rajasekharan, Former Governor of Mizoram. (BJP)
• M. K. Narayanan, Former Governor of West Bengal.
• K. Sankaranarayanan, Former Governor of Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh . (INC)

Party Leaders

• C. Sankaran Nair, 13th president of Indian National Congress (1897).
• A K Gopalan Nambiar, Prominent Communist leader and First Opposition Party Leader of Loksabha. (CPI)
• K. G. Marar, Former State President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kerala.
• Kummanam Rajasekharan, Former State President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kerala.
• P. S. Sreedharan Pillai, Former State President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kerala.
• S. Varadarajan Nair, Former President of KPCC (1977-1978).
• Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, Former President of KPCC (1998-2001, 2004-2005).
• Ramesh Chennithala, Former President of KPCC (2005-2014).
• E K Nayanar, State Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala. (1972-1980, 1992-1996)
• Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, State Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala. (2015-2022)
• K. C. Venugopal, General Secretary of All India Congress Committee. (2019-present)
• V. D. Satheesan, Current Opposition leader in Kerala State Assembly (2021- present) (INC)
• N. Jayaraj , Current Chief Whip of LDF in Kerala Legislative Assembly, MLA from Kerala Congress(M). (2021-present)

Cabinet Ministers (Kerala)

• C. M. Padmanabhan Nair, Politician from Socialist Party.
• K. K. Nayar, Former Member of Parliament from Bahraich (Lok Sabha constituency) in 4th Lok Sabha (Bharatiya Jan Sangh).

Outside India

• Devan Nair (1923-2005), 3rd President of Singapore (1981-1985).
• Priyanca Radhakrishnan, a New Zealand politician serving as the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector (2020- present).
• Pramila Jaypal, an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Washington's 7th congressional district (2017- present)(Democratic).
• Susheela Jayapal, an American politician serving as the County Commissioner for Multnomah County, Oregon. (2019- present)
• Hri Kumar Nair SC, a Singaporean lawyer serving as the Deputy Attorney-General of Singapore (2017-present).Former Member of Parliament representing the Thomson division of Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (2006-2015).
• Vikram Nair, a Singaporean politician and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament representing the Admiralty division of Sembawang GRC (2011-present).
• Murali Pillai, a Singaporean politician and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament representing Bukit Batok SMC (2016-present)
• Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, a German politician, served as Mayor of Bonn (2015-2020).
• Kesava Pillai Anilkumar, a South African politician serving as the Member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature (2019-present).
• Billy Nair (1929–2008), a South African politician, a Former member of the National Assembly of South Africa(1994-2004), an anti-apartheid activist.
• Damodran Nair, a Fijian politician who served as the Member of the Tavua Open Constituency in the House of Representatives of Fiji.

India

• V. P. Menon, Constitutional Adviser and Political Reforms Commissioner to the last three Viceroys during British rule in India.
• V K Krishna Menon, Veteran Diplomat and Cabinet Minister, Former Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Indian High Commissioner to the UK.
• N. R. Pillai, 1st Cabinet Secretary of India (1950-1953).
• M.K Vellodi, 4th Defence Secretary of India (1953- 1957) and the 3rd Cabinet Secretary of India (1957-1958)
• K. P. A. Menon, 16th Defence Secretary of India (1980-1981).
• K. A. Nambiar, 23rd Defence Secretary of India (1993-1996).
• Gopal Krishna Pillai, 15th Home Secretary of India (2009-2011).
• K. P. S. Menon (senior), 1st Foreign Secretary of India (1948-1952).
• K. P. S. Menon Jr., 15th Foreign Secretary of India (1987-1989).
• Jyotindra Nath Dixit – 18th Foreign Secretary of India (1991-1994) and 2nd National Security Adviser.
• Shivshankar Menon, 27th Foreign Secretary of India (2006-2009) and 4th National Security Adviser.
• Nirupama Rao, 28th Foreign Secretary of India (2009-2011).
• M. K. Narayanan, 3rd National Security Advisor of India and Former Director of Intelligence Bureau.
• K. Sankaran Nair, 2nd Director of the Research and Analysis Wing
• K Vijayakumar, Former Director General of CRPF. Senior National Security Officer and Advisor to Home Ministry.
• T.P Sreenivasan, Diplomat and Former Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Indian High Commissioner in Kenya.
• M. P. M. Menon, Former Ambassador of India to Bahrain, Maldives, United Arab Emirates , and Brazil.
• C. Madhavan Nair, Former Advocate-General of Madras Presidency.
• P. K. Narayana Panicker, Former General Secretary and President of NSS
• Sardar K. M. Panikkar, Historian, Novelist, and Diplomat.
• B.R. Nair, Former Chairman of Indian Railway Board.
• Vinod C. Menon, Member of the National Disaster Management Authority of India

Outside India

• Sundaresh Menon, 4th and Current Chief Justice of Singapore.
• Hri Kumar Nair SC, Singaporean lawyer serving as the Deputy Attorney-General of Singapore (2017-present).Former Member of Parliament representing the Thomson division of Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (2006-2015).
• Chandran Nair, a Singaporean Poet and Former Director and Mediator of UNESCO in Paris.
• Gita Gopinath, Current First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2022-present), previously served as Chief Economist of the IMF(2019-2022).
• Vanu Gopala Menon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Personal representative of the President of Singapore.

• Lt General Kunhiraman Palat Candeth, Padmabhushan Awardee.
• Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Ashoka Chakra Awardee.
• Captain Harshan R Nair, Ashoka Chakra Awardee. 2 Para SF. Youngest ever recipient.
• Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair, Ashoka Chakra Awardee.
• R. Hari Kumar, 25th and Current Chief of the Naval Staff of India (CNS).
• Lt General Sarath Chand, Vice Chief of Army Staff of Indian Army.

• Lt. General P. E. Menon, Military Secretary in Army headquarters. Former Ladakh Corps Commander.

• Lt. General Satish Nambiar, Former Deputy Chief of Indian Army, Headed UN Forces in Kosovo .
• Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, Former Deputy Chief of Staff Indian Air Force (2017).
• Air Chief Marshal K. N. Nair.
• Lt Gen V.K Pillai, Delhi Area Commander of Indian Army.
• Lt Gen V M Nair, Commanding-in-Chief of Kangra based 9 corps.
• Lt Gen Prakash Menon, Former Commandant of the Prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi. Expert in counter insurgency.
• Air Vice Marshal Narayan Menon.
• K Vijayakumar, Former Director General of CRPF. Senior National Security Officer and Advisor to Home Ministry.
• Lakshmi Sahgal, popularly known as "Captain Lakshmi", was the leader of "Rani of Jhansi Regiment" of Indian National Army.

India

• B.Ravi Pillai, an Indian Billionaire businessman and 2nd richest Keralite.
• P N C Menon, Chairman of Shobha Group
• Rajmohan Pillai, Current Chairman of Beta Group.
• Rajan Pillai, a businessman from Kerala, popularly known as the 'Biscuit Baron'.
• Nadakkal Parameswaran Pillai, the co-founder of Indian Coffee Houses in Kerala.
• K. M. Vasudevan Pillai, Founder, and CEO of Mahatma Education Society.
• Dr. G. C. Gopala Pillai, Former Chairman and Managing Director of Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore and the Founder MD of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA).
• Hari Menon, Co-founder and CEO of Big Basket.
• M.K.K Nair, Former Chairman and MD of FACT.
• Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Owner of Jupiter Capital, a Bangalore-based venture capital fund; Owner of Asianet News.
• Captain Chittarath Poovakkatt Krishnan Nair, Founder of The Leela Group.
• Jaishankar Menon (born 1956), Indian electrical engineer; developer of RAID technology

Outside India

• Leena Nair, Current Global CEO of Chanel. Previously served as the Chief Human Resource Officer of Unilever.
• Gita Gopinath, Current First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2022-present), previously served as Chief Economist of the IMF(2019-2022).
• C K Menon, Managing Director of Doha-based Behzad group.
• Shivsankaran Nair, CEO of British Borneo Oil and Gas Ltd.
• G. A. Menon, Founder and Chairman of US-based Magnecomp International.
• V.K. Rajashekharan Pillai, a Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee, Chairman of Bahrain-based National Group of Companies.
• Tan Sri Datuk Ravindran Menon, Co-founder and Managing Director of Ara Group, a conglomerate based in Malaysia.
• Raj Nair, Chief Technical Officer and Group Vice President of Ford Motors, United States.
• P. N. C. Menon (born 1948), Indian-Omani businessman

• M.G.K Menon, 2nd Chairman of ISRO.
• G Madhavan Nair, 6th Chairman of ISRO
• K Radhakrishnan, 7th Chairman of ISRO (2009-2014)
• S Somanath, Current Chairman of ISRO.
• Anil Menon, Candidate for an astronaut at NASA, Former Medical Director at NASA and SpaceX.
• K C Sreedharan Pillai (1920–1985), an Indian statistician who was known for his works on multivariate analysis and probability distributions.
• Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King's College London, UK. Appointed in January 2014 as director of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative. Special adviser to the House of Lords EU committee.
• Nivedita Menon, Feminist writer and Professor of Political Thought at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
• Shree K. Nayar, T. C. Chang Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering at Columbia University. Director of research at Snap Inc. A Member of the US National Academy of Engineering (2008) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011).
• Shrikanth Narayanan, Professor at the University of Southern California. An interdisciplinary engineer-scientist with a focus on human-centered signal processing and machine intelligence with speech and spoken language processing at its core.
• V. Parmeswaran Nair, A physicist, currently as serving a Distinguished Professor at City University of New York.
• Geeta Menon, the Abraham Krasnoff Professor of Global Business at New York University Stern School of Business.
• V. N. Rajashekharan Pillai, Acting Chairman, University Grants Commission, India.

• C. V. Raman Pillai
• Irayimman Thampi
• Madhu
• K. S. Chithra, famous playback singer and Carnatic musician, 6-time National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer awardee.
• M.G Sreekumar, an Indian playback singer, composer and music producer, 2-time National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer awardee.
• Mohanlal, a 2-time National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai, a 2-time National Film Award for Best Actress awardee.
• M.G. Ramachandran, National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Suresh Gopi, National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Balachandra Menon, National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Murali, National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Suraj Venjaramoodu, National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Balan K Nair, National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Bharath Gopi National Film Award for Best Actor awardee.
• Biju Menon, National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor awardee.
• Travancore Sisters.
• Kay Kay Menon
• KK (Krishnakumar Kunnath), Indian playback singer.
• Gautham Vasudev Menon, an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil film industry.
• Suresh Unnithan, an Indian film and television director who works in Malayalam films.
• Kalamandalam Ramachandran Unnithan, a Kathakali exponent from Kerala, India. He received several awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2016.
• Dileep.
• Vineeth.
• K.B. Ganesh Kumar.
• Mira Nair, an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City.
• Sunil Nayar, an Indian American television writer and producer.
• Vinita Nair, an American television journalist, Former co-host of CBS This Morning Saturday alongside Anthony Mason.
• Malaysia Vasudevan
• Appan Menon (1947–1996), Indian print and television journalist
• C. Karunakara Menon (1863–1922), Indian journalist and politician
• Chengalathu Kunhirama Menon (1857–1935), Indian journalist
• Mini Menon, Indian journalist
• Ramesh Menon, Indian author, journalist, and documentary film maker
• Aishwarya Menon (born 1992), Indian film actress
• Alok Vaid-Menon (born 1991), American writer and performance artist
• Anjali Menon, Indian film director and screenwriter
• Anoop Menon, Indian film actor, screenwriter and lyricist
• Anuradha Menon, Indian television actress and theatre artist
• Arjun Menon (born 1987), Indian playback singer
• Asha G. Menon (born 1986), Indian playback singer
• Bhaskar Menon, Indian music executive
• Karthika Menon (born 1986), Indian film actress known by her stage name Bhavana
• Biju Menon (born 1970), Indian film actor
• Divya S. Menon (born 1987), Indian singer and television anchor
• Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 1973), Indian film maker
• Gopal Menon (born 1974), Indian documentary film director, producer and cinematographer
• Hemanth Menon (born 1989), Indian film actor
• Jaya Menon, Indian actress
• Kay Kay Menon (born 1966), Indian film, stage and television actor
• Lakshmi Menon (actress) (born 1996), Indian film actress
• Lakshmi Menon (model) (born 1981), Indian model
• Meena Menon (born 1970), Indian voice-dubbing artist and singer
• Nithya Menon, Indian film actress and playback singer
• P. N. Menon (director) (1928–2008), film maker
• Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon (1881–1949), Indian actor
• Rajiv Menon (born 1963), Indian advertising director, cinematographer, actor and film maker
• Ramesh Menon, Indian author, journalist, and documentary film maker
• Ravi Menon (1950–2007), Indian film actor
• Rejith Menon (born 1988), Indian film actor
• Renuka Menon, Indian Malayali film actress
• Revathi Menon, Indian film actress and director
• Sekhar Menon (born 1980), Indian actor
• Sheetal Menon, Indian model and actress
• Shweta Menon, Indian model, actress and television anchor
• Siddharth Menon (born 1989), Indian Malayalam playback singer and actor
• Siddharth Menon (born 1989), Indian Hindi and Marathi film actor
• Sindhu Menon, Indian film actress
• Sreebala K Menon, Malayali author and filmmaker
• Sreevalsan J. Menon, Indian vocalist and composer
• Suresh Menon (born 1967), Indian actor, comedian and television personality
• Suresh Chandra Menon Indian actor, cinematographer and film director
• Unni Menon (born 1955), Indian film playback singer
• Valsala Menon (born 1945), Indian film actress
• Vimala Menon (born 1943), Indian dance instructor
• C. Madhava Menon (1911–1984), Indian painter
• T.A.S Menon, Indian artist and former Principal of the Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts Mavelikara.
• Anil Menon, Indian computer scientist and writer of speculative fiction
• I. K. K. Menon (1919–2013), Indian writer
• Indu Menon (born 1980), Indian writer, novelist, and sociologist
• M. K. Menon (1928–1993), Indian writer
• Menon Marath (1906–2003), Indo-Anglican novelist
• Nalapat Narayana Menon (1887–1954), Indian author
• Nivedita Menon, feminist writer and Professor of Political Thought at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
• Oyyarathu Chandu Menon (1847–1899), Indian novelist
• Puthezhath Raman Menon (1891–1973), Indian Writer, President of Kerala Sahitya Akademy, Judge of Kerala High Court
• P.C. Kuttikrishna Menon (1915–1979), Indian author, also known as Uroob
• Ramesh Menon, Indian author, journalist, and documentary film maker
• Ritu Menon, Indian feminist writer and publisher
• Sandhya Menon, American young adult fiction author
• Sreebala K Menon, Malayali author and filmmaker
• Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878–1958), Indian poet
• Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon (1911–1985), Indian poet

• S Sreesanth
• Karun Nair
• Abhishek Nayar
• Bhaskar Pillai

• List of people from Kerala
• Nair Service Society