Becky · English girl’s name

Becky in Hawaiian is Peke

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when B became P, C became K, and Y fell away.

Say it

PEH·keh

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Becky in Hawaiian?

Becky is Peke in Hawaiian, said PEH-keh. The same form covers Betty, because Hawaiian writes both spellings the same way.

How Becky became Peke

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Becky B became P, C became K, and Y fell away.

Peke has a page of its own as a Hawaiian given name, with its popularity and the names it is usually paired with.

How to say Peke

Say it PEH-keh, leaning on PEH, sounding every vowel: e as in “bet”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Where Becky comes from

Becky is a pet form of Rebecca, from the Hebrew Rivkah, often explained as a tie or snare. Rebecca is the wife of Isaac in Genesis, and the shortened Becky has been used on its own since the 1700s.

Hawaiian writes Becky as Peke, the same form it gives Betty, because B becomes P, the K and T sounds both become K, and the final y becomes e.

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 Becky in Hawaiian?

Becky is Peke in Hawaiian, pronounced PEH-keh. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s, and it covers Betty as well.

How do you pronounce Peke?

PEH-keh, with the stress on PEH.

Why does Peke look so different from Becky?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Becky, B became P, C became K, and Y fell away.

Is Peke a real Hawaiian name?

Yes, as a borrowed name. Hawaiian families have used Peke since the 1800s, but it is Becky respelled, not a name built from Hawaiian words.

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