Luke · English boy’s name

Luke in Hawaiian is Luka

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when the final e became a.

Say it

LOO·kah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Luke in Hawaiian?

Luke is Luka in Hawaiian, said LOO-kah. The same form covers Ruth, because Hawaiian writes both spellings the same way.

How Luke became Luka

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Luke the final e became a.

Luka 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 Luka

Say it LOO-kah, leaning on LOO, sounding every vowel: u as “oo”, a as in “father”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.

Where Luke comes from

Luke is the English form of the Greek Loukas, a man from Lucania in southern Italy. Saint Luke, traditionally a physician, is credited with the third Gospel and the Book of Acts.

Its Hawaiian form, Luka, is also used for Ruth. With R becoming L and both K and TH sounds becoming K, Luke and Ruth arrive at the same four letters.

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 Luke in Hawaiian?

Luke is Luka in Hawaiian, pronounced LOO-kah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s, and it covers Ruth as well.

How do you pronounce Luka?

LOO-kah, with the stress on LOO.

Why does Luka look so different from Luke?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Luke, the final e became a.

Is Luka a real Hawaiian name?

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

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