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Hawaiian Name Finder

Martha · English girl’s name

Martha in Hawaiian is Maleka

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

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mah·LEH·kah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Martha in Hawaiian?

Martha is Maleka in Hawaiian, said mah-LEH-kah.

How Martha became Maleka

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Martha R became L, T 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.

How to say Maleka

Say it mah-LEH-kah, leaning on LEH, sounding every vowel: a as in “father”, e as in “bet”. 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 Martha in Hawaiian?

Martha is Maleka in Hawaiian, pronounced mah-LEH-kah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Maleka?

mah-LEH-kah, with the stress on LEH.

Why does Maleka look so different from Martha?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Martha, R became L, T became K, and a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together.

Is Maleka a real Hawaiian name?

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

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