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Hawaiian Name Finder

Sophia · English girl’s name

Sophia in Hawaiian is Kopaea

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

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koh·PYE·ah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

What is Sophia in Hawaiian?

Sophia is Kopaea in Hawaiian, said koh-PYE-ah.

How Sophia became Kopaea

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Sophia S 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.

Kopaea 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 Kopaea

Say it koh-PYE-ah, leaning on PYE, sounding every vowel: o as in “go”, 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 Sophia in Hawaiian?

Sophia is Kopaea in Hawaiian, pronounced koh-PYE-ah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Kopaea?

koh-PYE-ah, with the stress on PYE.

Why does Kopaea look so different from Sophia?

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

Is Kopaea a real Hawaiian name?

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

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