Skip to content

Edith · English girl’s name

Edith in Hawaiian is ʻEkika

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

Say it

eh·KEE·kah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Edith in Hawaiian?

Edith is ʻEkika in Hawaiian, said eh-KEE-kah.

How Edith became ʻEkika

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Edith D became K, T became K, and a vowel was added at the end. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from. The ʻokina at the front is a consonant in Hawaiian, the catch in the voice before the first vowel.

How to say ʻEkika

Say it eh-KEE-kah, leaning on KEE, sounding every vowel: e as in “bet”, i as “ee”, a as in “father”. The ʻokina (ʻ) is a catch in the voice, the break in the middle of “uh-oh”. 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 Edith in Hawaiian?

Edith is ʻEkika in Hawaiian, pronounced eh-KEE-kah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce ʻEkika?

eh-KEE-kah, with the stress on KEE.

Why does ʻEkika look so different from Edith?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Edith, D became K, T became K, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is ʻEkika a real Hawaiian name?

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

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