Joshua · English boy’s name

Joshua in Hawaiian is Iokua

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

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ee·oh·KOO·ah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Joshua in Hawaiian?

Joshua is Iokua in Hawaiian, said ee-oh-KOO-ah.

How Joshua became Iokua

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

Iokua 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 Iokua

Say it ee-oh-KOO-ah, leaning on KOO, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”, o as in “go”, u as “oo”, 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 Joshua in Hawaiian?

Joshua is Iokua in Hawaiian, pronounced ee-oh-KOO-ah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Iokua?

ee-oh-KOO-ah, with the stress on KOO.

Why does Iokua look so different from Joshua?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Joshua, J became I, S became K, and a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together.

Is Iokua a real Hawaiian name?

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

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