Barbara · English girl’s name

Barbara in Hawaiian is Palapala

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when B became P, R became L, and a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together.

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Say it

pah·lah·PAH·lah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

It also means

“writing”

What is Barbara in Hawaiian?

Barbara is Palapala in Hawaiian, said pah-lah-PAH-lah.

How Barbara became Palapala

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Barbara B became P, R became L, and a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together. Hawaiian does not run two consonants together, and every syllable ends on a vowel.

Palapala as a Hawaiian name

Palapala is not only a borrowed spelling. It reads as Hawaiian in its own right, meaning “writing”, and it is given as a girl's name in Hawaiʻi today. Its own page has the full meaning, the word it is built from, and names that go with it.

Palapala is also a Hawaiian word: palapala means “writing, document”.

How to say Palapala

Say it pah-lah-PAH-lah, leaning on PAH, sounding every vowel: a as in “father”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Sources the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary, Place Names of Hawaii, Nānā i ke Kumu, wehewehe.org, Wiktionary's Hawaiian given names and U.S. Social Security baby-name records. How this site is compiled · Send a correction

Questions people ask

What is Barbara in Hawaiian?

Barbara is Palapala in Hawaiian, pronounced pah-lah-PAH-lah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Palapala?

pah-lah-PAH-lah, with the stress on PAH.

Why does Palapala look so different from Barbara?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Barbara, B became P, R became L, and a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together.

Is Palapala a real Hawaiian name?

Yes. Beyond being the Hawaiian spelling of Barbara, Palapala reads as Hawaiian on its own and means "writing". It is in use as a given name in Hawaiʻi today.

All 164 English names in Hawaiian · Hawaiian girl's names