Sarah · English girl’s name

Sarah in Hawaiian is Kala

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

Translate another name

Say it

KAH·lah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

It also means

“the sun”

What is Sarah in Hawaiian?

Sarah is Kala in Hawaiian, said KAH-lah.

How Sarah became Kala

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Sarah R became L, S 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.

Kala as a Hawaiian name

Kala is not only a borrowed spelling. It reads as Hawaiian in its own right, meaning “the sun”, and it is given as a girl's name in Hawaiʻi today. Its own page has the full meaning, the word it is built from, and names that go with it.

How to say Kala

Say it KAH-lah, leaning on KAH, sounding every vowel: 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 Sarah in Hawaiian?

Sarah is Kala in Hawaiian, pronounced KAH-lah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Kala?

KAH-lah, with the stress on KAH.

Why does Kala look so different from Sarah?

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

Is Kala a real Hawaiian name?

Yes. Beyond being the Hawaiian spelling of Sarah, Kala reads as Hawaiian on its own and means "the sun". It is in use as a given name in Hawaiʻi today.

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