What is Thomas in Hawaiian?
Thomas is Koma in Hawaiian, said KOH-mah.
How Thomas became Koma
Hawaiian is written with thirteen letters, so in Thomas S became K, 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.
Other recorded spellings of Thomas
Hawaiian records do not settle on one spelling for every borrowed name. Alongside Koma, Thomas was also written Kamaki. Each is a real Hawaiian writing of the name rather than a variant anyone invented; which one a family used came down to who was doing the writing, and when.
Koma 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 Koma
Say it KOH-mah, leaning on KOH, sounding every vowel: o as in “go”, a as in “father”. The pronunciation guide covers the whole system.