Pai is a common surname from coastal Karnataka in India. It is found among Hindus of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community.
Pai is known to be a prakrit of Pati or "Lord". Families with the surname Pai, are Saraswat Brahmins who speak the Konkani language. The Pai were mainly ledger keepers.
The surname Pai comes from the word Konkani Prakit word paee meaning Lord.
The name is also in use among some Konkani Catholics who trace their ancestry to the Goud Saraswat Brahmins of Goa and Karnataka.