Susan · English girl’s name

Susan in Hawaiian is Kukana

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

Translate another name

Say it

koo·KAH·nah

The gold syllable takes the stress.

It also means

“Susanna”

What is Susan in Hawaiian?

Susan is Kukana in Hawaiian, said koo-KAH-nah.

How Susan became Kukana

Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Susan 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.

Kukana as a Hawaiian name

Kukana is not only a borrowed spelling. It reads as Hawaiian in its own right, meaning “Susanna”, 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 Kukana

Say it koo-KAH-nah, leaning on KAH, sounding every vowel: u as “oo”, 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 Susan in Hawaiian?

Susan is Kukana in Hawaiian, pronounced koo-KAH-nah. It is the form used in Hawaiian-language records since the 1800s.

How do you pronounce Kukana?

koo-KAH-nah, with the stress on KAH.

Why does Kukana look so different from Susan?

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

Is Kukana a real Hawaiian name?

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

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