Jennifer · English girl’s name

Jennifer in Hawaiian is Kinipela

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when F became P, J became I, R became L, the doubled consonant was written once, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

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kee·nee·PEH·lah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Jennifer in Hawaiian?

Jennifer is Kinipela in Hawaiian, said kee-nee-PEH-lah.

How Jennifer became Kinipela

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Jennifer F became P, J became I, R became L, the doubled consonant was written once, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end. Hawaiian never writes a consonant twice, so the pair collapses to one. 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.

How to say Kinipela

Say it kee-nee-PEH-lah, leaning on PEH, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”, e as in “bet”, a as in “father”. 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 Jennifer in Hawaiian?

Jennifer is Kinipela in Hawaiian, pronounced kee-nee-PEH-lah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Kinipela?

kee-nee-PEH-lah, with the stress on PEH.

Why does Kinipela look so different from Jennifer?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Jennifer, F became P, J became I, R became L, the doubled consonant was written once, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Kinipela a real Hawaiian name?

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

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