Deborah · English girl’s name

Deborah in Hawaiian is Kepola

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when B became P, D became K, R became L, and a vowel was added at the end.

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keh·POH·lah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Deborah in Hawaiian?

Deborah is Kepola in Hawaiian, said keh-POH-lah.

How Deborah became Kepola

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Deborah B became P, D became K, R became L, and a vowel was added at the end. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from.

Kepola 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 Kepola

Say it keh-POH-lah, leaning on POH, sounding every vowel: e as in “bet”, o as in “go”, 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 Deborah in Hawaiian?

Deborah is Kepola in Hawaiian, pronounced keh-POH-lah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Kepola?

keh-POH-lah, with the stress on POH.

Why does Kepola look so different from Deborah?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Deborah, B became P, D became K, R became L, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Kepola a real Hawaiian name?

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

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