Ruth · English girl’s name

Ruth in Hawaiian is Luka

The form Hawaiian speakers have written since the 1800s, when R became L, T became K, and a vowel was added at the end.

Say it

LOO·kah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Ruth in Hawaiian?

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

How Ruth became Luka

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Ruth R became L, T became K, and a vowel was added at the end. A Hawaiian word cannot finish on a consonant, which is where the last vowel comes from.

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 Ruth comes from

Ruth is a Hebrew name from the Book of Ruth, the story of a Moabite woman's loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. Its original meaning is uncertain, though it is often explained as friend or companion. English Puritans adopted it in the 1600s.

Its Hawaiian form, Luka, is shared with Luke, because once R becomes L and th becomes k the two names sound the same.

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 Ruth in Hawaiian?

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

How do you pronounce Luka?

LOO-kah, with the stress on LOO.

Why does Luka look so different from Ruth?

Each sound Hawaiian lacks was swapped for the nearest one it has. In Ruth, R became L, T became K, and a vowel was added at the end.

Is Luka a real Hawaiian name?

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

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