What is Isaac in Hawaiian?
Isaac is ʻIkaʻaka in Hawaiian, said ee-kah-AH-kah.
How Isaac became ʻIkaʻaka
Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Isaac C became K, S 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.
Other recorded spellings of Isaac
Hawaiian records do not settle on one spelling for every borrowed name. Alongside ʻIkaʻaka, Isaac was also written ʻAikake. Each is a real Hawaiian writing of the name rather than a variant anyone invented; which one a family used came down to who was doing the writing, and when.
ʻIkaʻaka 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 ʻIkaʻaka
Say it ee-kah-AH-kah, leaning on AH, sounding every vowel: 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.