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Hawaiian Name Finder

Esther · English girl’s name

Esther in Hawaiian is ʻEketera

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when S became K, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

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eh·keh·TEH·rah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Esther in Hawaiian?

Esther is ʻEketera in Hawaiian, said eh-keh-TEH-rah.

How Esther became ʻEketera

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Esther S became K, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end. Hawaiian does not run two consonants together, and every syllable ends on a vowel. 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 ʻEketera

Say it eh-keh-TEH-rah, leaning on TEH, sounding every vowel: e as in “bet”, 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 Esther in Hawaiian?

Esther is ʻEketera in Hawaiian, pronounced eh-keh-TEH-rah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce ʻEketera?

eh-keh-TEH-rah, with the stress on TEH.

Why does ʻEketera look so different from Esther?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Esther, S became K, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is ʻEketera a real Hawaiian name?

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

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