Jane · English girl’s name

Jane in Hawaiian is Kini

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when J became I, and the final e became i.

Translate another name

Say it

KEE·nee

The gold syllable takes the stress.

It also means

“multitude”

What is Jane in Hawaiian?

Jane is Kini in Hawaiian, said KEE-nee. The same form covers Jean and Jennie, because Hawaiian writes all of these spellings the same way.

How Jane became Kini

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Jane J became I, and the final e became i.

Kini as a Hawaiian name

Kini is not only a borrowed spelling. It reads as Hawaiian in its own right, meaning “multitude”, and it is given as a boy's name in Hawaiʻi today. Its own page has the full meaning, the word it is built from, and names that go with it.

Kini is also a Hawaiian word: kini means “multitude, forty thousand”.

How to say Kini

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

Where Jane comes from

Jane is the English form of Jehanne, the Old French feminine of John, from the Hebrew for God is gracious. It displaced the older Joan in England in the 1500s, helped by Lady Jane Grey and later by its sheer plainness, and it became one of the most ordinary English names.

Hawaiian writes it Kini, the same form it uses for Jean and Jennie.

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 Jane in Hawaiian?

Jane is Kini in Hawaiian, pronounced KEE-nee. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s, and it covers Jean and Jennie as well.

How do you pronounce Kini?

KEE-nee, with the stress on KEE.

Why does Kini look so different from Jane?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Jane, J became I, and the final e became i.

Is Kini a real Hawaiian name?

Yes. Beyond being the Hawaiian spelling of Jane, Kini reads as Hawaiian on its own and means "multitude". It is in use as a given name in Hawaiʻi today.

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