Francis · English boy’s name

Francis in Hawaiian is Palani

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when C fell away, F became P, R became L, S fell away, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

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pah·LAH·nee

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Francis in Hawaiian?

Francis is Palani in Hawaiian, said pah-LAH-nee. The same form covers Frank, because Hawaiian writes both spellings the same way.

How Francis became Palani

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Francis C fell away, F became P, R became L, S fell away, 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.

Palani 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 Palani

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

Where Francis comes from

Francis is the Latin Franciscus, a Frenchman. Its fame comes from Saint Francis of Assisi, whose father nicknamed him Francesco, and from him it spread as a Christian name throughout Europe. In English Francis is the man's spelling and Frances the woman's.

The Hawaiian form Palani replaces F with P and R with L and is shared with Frank.

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 Francis in Hawaiian?

Francis is Palani in Hawaiian, pronounced pah-LAH-nee. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s, and it covers Frank as well.

How do you pronounce Palani?

pah-LAH-nee, with the stress on LAH.

Why does Palani look so different from Francis?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Francis, C fell away, F became P, R became L, S fell away, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Palani a real Hawaiian name?

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

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