Hawaiian Name Generator

Hawaiian names are made of ordinary Hawaiian words, so every name carries a meaning that a speaker hears immediately. Lani (heaven, sky), kai (sea), lei (garland), pua (flower), nani (beauty), aloha (love), koa (brave, also the koa tree), hōkū (star), mahina (moon), makani (wind), ola (life) and mana (spiritual power) are the most common building blocks, and they combine freely: Kailani is sea and sky, Kekoa is the brave one, Hōkūlani is heavenly star, Leimomi is a pearl lei, Kaleiokalani is the lei of heaven. Because names are compounds, a Hawaiian name can be as short as Kai or as long as Kalehuaokalani, and long names are often shortened to a nickname in daily use.

The language has thirteen letters: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w and the ʻokina, a glottal stop written ʻ that is a real consonant. A macron (kahakō) marks a long vowel and can change meaning, so Pōmaikaʻi and Kūpaʻa are correctly written with the marks. Names were traditionally not divided strictly by gender, though today names built on pua, lei, nani and lani are mostly given to girls and names with koa, ikaika, kāne and kai lean toward boys.

Many familiar names are Hawaiian forms of Christian names introduced after 1820: Kimo (James), Kawika (David), Keoni (John), Kamuela (Samuel), Malia (Mary), Kalena (Karen), Iokepa (Joseph). Those forms are still very common in Hawaii and work well alongside word-based names in a family.