Samoan Name Generator

Samoan names come from a language with only fourteen letters, so they share a soft, open sound: vowels dominate, every syllable ends in a vowel, and the glottal stop (written with the ʻokina, as in Fa'afetai and Papali'i) is a real consonant that changes meaning. Many given names are ordinary words with meaning: Sina and Masina (moon), Fetu (star), Alofa (love), Fa'afetai (thank you), Manaia (beautiful), Toa (warrior), Vai (water), Lagi (sky), Ula (necklace), Teuila (the red ginger flower). Others are Samoan forms of Bible names introduced by missionaries in the 1830s: Ioane (John), Iosefa (Joseph), Tavita (David), Sione (John, via Tongan), Malia (Mary), Mele (Mary), Elisapeta (Elizabeth), Ruta (Ruth), Petelo (Peter), Semisi (James).

Family names in Samoa are usually the given name of an ancestor or, more importantly, a matai (chiefly) title held by the family: Tuilagi, Malietoa, Tupua, Fiame, Papali'i, Fuimaono, Tuiasosopo. When a person holds a matai title it goes in front of the personal name, so Fiame Naomi Mata'afa is a title-holder named Naomi. Names like Ah Ken and Ah Kuoi mark Chinese-Samoan families from the plantation era.

The list gives single names, family names, and full pairings, so you can name a character living in Apia, Pago Pago, Auckland, or Utah with a name that sounds like it belongs.