Richard · English boy’s name

Richard in Hawaiian is Likeke

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

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lee·KEH·keh

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Richard in Hawaiian?

Richard is Likeke in Hawaiian, said lee-KEH-keh.

How Richard became Likeke

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Richard C became K, D became K, R became L, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end. 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.

Likeke 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 Likeke

Say it lee-KEH-keh, leaning on KEH, sounding every vowel: i as “ee”, 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 Richard in Hawaiian?

Richard is Likeke in Hawaiian, pronounced lee-KEH-keh. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Likeke?

lee-KEH-keh, with the stress on KEH.

Why does Likeke look so different from Richard?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Richard, C became K, D became K, R became L, a vowel was slipped between the consonants that ran together, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Likeke a real Hawaiian name?

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

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